Robert Ballard's Lusitania

Book excerpt: by Robert Ballard In May 1915, a German torpedo sank the sleek Cunard liner, Lusitania, taking 1,195 civilian lives. The sinking turned world opinion against Germany, and the deaths of 123 American passengers was the first step in bringing the United States into the First World War. Rumours of conspiracies and cover-ups surround the liner, and over 80 years later she is still a ship of mystery. In 1993 Robert Ballard led an expedition to the wreck of the Lusitania off the coast of Ireland in search of the answers. Ballard s conclusions are authoritative and provide a fascinating, definitive account of what happened on that fateful May afternoon. incredibly rich in illustration Diver Magazine