'Dead Wake' is Kerri's book pick

Erik Larson is a master at spinning history into page-turners. Whether he's writing about the storm of the century or a serial killer stalking the grounds of Chicago's World Fair, his books are filled with haunting detail.

His latest, "Dead Wake," follows the final days of the passengers and crew on the passenger liner Lusitania. History buffs know how the story ends: the Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland in 1915. The tragedy claimed 1,198 lives.

Larson digs into the many facets of the story never before told. From The Seattle Times:

Larson, a master of nonfiction narrative (among his best-sellers are "The Devil in the White City," "Thunderstruck" and "In the Garden of Beasts"), weaves the story of the Lusitania from many threads. Most of the book covers one week -- from May 1, as the Lusitania left New York City, until the disaster -- but it spans several continents. We're taken inside the malodorous confines of U-20, the cramped submarine piloted by German captain Walther Schwieger, whose friends described him as a man who "couldn't kill a fly" -- but who had no compunctions about firing at a ship filled with civilians. We visit London's Room 40, a top-secret naval code breaking operation under the command of Winston Churchill and Admiral Jacky Fisher, a "large bulb-eyed toad" who bore an uncanny resemblance to the actor Peter Lorre. We spend time with a lovesick, distracted President Woodrow Wilson, still keeping the U.S. neutral despite the war in Europe, but at increasing cost. (The disaster, which killed 123 Americans, began a shift in U.S. sentiment toward participation in World War I -- but it would still be nearly two years before Wilson finally declared war on Germany.)

Erik Larson joins Kerri Miller at the Fitzgerald Theater on Friday, March 27 to discuss "Dead Wake." Tickets are available now from the Fitzgerald box office.