Examines the facts of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania, and provides
a new critical analysis and conclusions
Within hours of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania by a submarine off
the Cork coast in May 1915, a narrative was created and over time,
emerged as the "truth" of the incident. Throughout the world many people
still today perceive the sinking of the Lusitania was a savage attack
on an innocent vessel that brought America into the war. In his new
book, Michael Martin shows that the ship wasn't an "innocent" vessel and
was not the catalyst for American involvement. Examining a raft of
existing and new evidence, this book brings a more critical perspective
to the established fact, including how the RMS Lusitania had a far
wider function than just carrying passengers across the Atlantic; how
specific "military type" duties were assigned to the ship despite
innocent civilians being on board; and asks some darker questions about
how the 1,200 civilians on board that day were being viewed by the
military powers, while acknowledging the human tragedy of this historic
incident.