Wilful Murder: The Sinking of the Lusitania [Paperback]

‘A complex story of heroism and great courage… compulsively readable’

"Very good. . . . Preston has done an extraordinary amount of work, particularly in tracing the memories of survivors."
-"Sunday Times"
"It is not easy, nowadays, to write an original book on the First World War . . . but Preston has succeeded."
-"Sunday Times"

‘It is not easy, nowadays, to write an original book on the first world war…but Preston has succeeded’

'A fitting monument to a multitudinous loss'

‘Very good…Preston has done an extraordinary amount of work, particularly in tracing the memories of survivors’

On May 7th, 1915 a passenger ship crossing the Atlantic sank with the loss of 1200 lives. On board were some world-famous figures, including multimillionaire Alfred Vanderbilt. But this wasn't the Titanic and there was no iceberg. The liner was the Lusitania and it was torpedoed by a German U-boat. "Wilful Murder" is the story of the sinking of the Lusitania. The book looks at the events in their full historical context, while placing the human dimension at its heart. Using first-hand accounts of the tragedy the author brings the characters to life, recreating the splendour of the liner as it set sail and the horror of its final moments. Using British, American and German research material, Diana Preston aims to answer many of the unanswered and controversial questions surrounding the Lusitania: why didn't Cunard listen to warnings that the ship would be a target of the Germans? Was the Lusitania sacrificed to bring the Americans into the War? What was really in the Lusitania's hold? Was she armed? Had Cunard's offices been infiltrated by German agents? And did the Kaiser's decision to cease unrestricted U-boat warfare in response to international outrage expressed after the sinking effectively change the outcome of the World War I?

The most comprehensive book to date to explore the tragedy of the sinking of the Lusitania

On May 7th, 1915, the Lusitania, a passenger ship, was torpedoed by a German U-boat in the Atlantic. 1,200 people died. Wilful Murder, the first book to look at this tragedy in its full historical context, is also the first to place the human dimension at its heart. Through first-hand accounts, we relive the splendour of the liner setting sail and the horror of its final moments.

Using British, American and German research material, Diana Preston answers many of the unanswered and controversial questions surrounding the Lusitania: why didn't Cunard heed warnings that the ship was a German target? Had Cunard's offices been infiltrated by German agents? What was really in the Lusitania's hold, and was she armed? Did international outrage change the outcome of the first world war?

And perhaps most importantly, was the Lusitania sacrificed to bring America into the war? Engrossing and brilliantly researched, Wilful Murder casts dramatic new light on one of the world's most famous maritime disasters.

Diana Preston is an Oxford-trained historian, writer, and broadcaster who lives in London. She is the author of The Road to Culloden Moor: Bonnie Prince Charlie and the '45 Rebellion; A First Rate Tragedy: Robert Falcon Scott and the Race to the South Pole and The Boxer Rebellion: The Dramatic Story of China's War on Foreigners that Shook the World in the Summer of 1900.