The Lusitania Conspiracy

"May 7, 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania, the event that catalyzed the United States involvement in World War I. Though the ship's sinking has guaranteed it a place in our history textbooks, the conspiracy behind it remains shrouded in mystery. Did the British Navy have advance knowledge of the attack? Was the attack preventable? Was the ship deliberately put at risk? While the answers to these questions may be lost forever in time, there is no shortage of theories as to what really led to the German attack on the Greyhound of the Seas. Bringing to life such influential historical characters as Nikola Tesla, Mark Twain, and Winston Churchill, as well as a host of fascinating characters created by the author, this gripping novel delves deeply into one of the greatest unsolved conspiracies in history and offers a unique look at what secrets might still be lurking in the ship's dark past. The Lusitania Conspiracy follows Tesla, perhaps the most brilliant scientist who has ever lived, as he endeavors to make the world a better place through his groundbreaking work with radar and tonal oscillation. But the Allied forces have other plans for Tesla's inventions namely, a super weapon that would bring Germany to its knees and ensure the Allies victory in the so-called war to end all wars. As imaginative as he was scientific, Tesla is joined in his never-ending quest to remain a force for good by his reverent assistant who shares his boss's quick wit and penchant for adventure. Tesla's unparalleled intellect also allows him the ability to consort with his deceased best friend, Mark Twain. Along the way, Twain advises Tesla from beyond the grave, often providing the insight and courage that Tesla needs in order to persevere. Once aboard the Lusitania, Tesla and Li find themselves tangled in a web of intrigue, where nothing is as it seems and no one is to be trusted"--Dust jacket flap.

Ocean liner expert J. Kent Layton examines and debunks some of the conspiracies surrounding two of the great maritime disasters of the twentieth century.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author and master of narrative nonfiction comes the enthralling story of the sinking of the Lusitania “Both terrifying and enthralling.”—Entertainment Weekly “Thrilling, dramatic and powerful.”—NPR “Thoroughly engrossing.”—George R.R. Martin On May 1, 1915, with WWI entering its tenth month, a luxury ocean liner as richly appointed as an English country house sailed out of New York, bound for Liverpool, carrying a record number of children and infants. The passengers were surprisingly at ease, even though Germany had declared the seas around Britain to be a war zone. For months, German U-boats had brought terror to the North Atlantic. But the Lusitania was one of the era’s great transatlantic “Greyhounds”—the fastest liner then in service—and her captain, William Thomas Turner, placed tremendous faith in the gentlemanly strictures of warfare that for a century had kept civilian ships safe from attack. Germany, however, was determined to change the rules of the game, and Walther Schwieger, the captain of Unterseeboot-20, was happy to oblige. Meanwhile, an ultra-secret British intelligence unit tracked Schwieger’s U-boat, but told no one. As U-20 and the Lusitania made their way toward Liverpool, an array of forces both grand and achingly small—hubris, a chance fog, a closely guarded secret, and more—all converged to produce one of the great disasters of history. It is a story that many of us think we know but don’t, and Erik Larson tells it thrillingly, switching between hunter and hunted while painting a larger portrait of America at the height of the Progressive Era. Full of glamour and suspense, Dead Wake brings to life a cast of evocative characters, from famed Boston bookseller Charles Lauriat to pioneering female architect Theodate Pope to President Woodrow Wilson, a man lost to grief, dreading the widening war but also captivated by the prospect of new love. Gripping and important, Dead Wake captures the sheer drama and emotional power of a disaster whose intimate details and true meaning have long been obscured by history. Finalist for the Washington State Book Award • One of the Best Books of the Year: The Washington Post, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Miami Herald, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, LibraryReads, Indigo

The sinking of the Lusitania is one of the most famous naval disasters in history.

Did the Titanic really sink? Or was it sister ship Olympic? Was it a massive cover-up or an insurance scam? These and many other questions are raised in Robin Gardiner's brilliantly entertaining read which reveals a fascinating version of what really happened on that terrible night in April 1912.

A gripping fast paced thriller starts with the sinking of the lusitania and follows the riveting story through to the present day. Now, after more than a century of silence, the Triangle of Conspiracy is at last revealed in an intriguing blend of fact and fiction. The Lusitania was sunk off the coast of Kinsale on May 7th 1915 with the loss of twelve hundred lives. A German U-boat was blamed and the German High Command admitted that they had struck the Lusitania with one torpedo. But was it really that torpedo which sank the great liner? Britain and America condemned the Kaiser for committing a war crime and expressed massive outrage. But the Lusitania was carrying war munitions so whose crime was it? In 1915, the British Empire suffered a devastating defeat at Gallipoli in the Dardanelles. Incompetence amongst the Allied commanders was blamed. But was it really incompetence? The German Royal Family have never relinquished their rights to the throne. Why? A case involving the ownership of the wreck was settled in the Supreme Court in Dublin in 2007. But was it? Why would anyone want to stop an exploration into a one hundred year old ship wreck? What difference could it make now? What relevance has it today? Why would we care? A package containing a journal, started in 1915 and originally posted in 1925, lands on the desk of Lauren York, a businesswoman in present day New York. The journal reveals a high level conspiracy involving the Lusitania sinking, Gallipoli, the British and German monarchies, financial institutions still in existence today and governments. The journal directs Lauren to look for key cables which are missing and which reveal crucial information on the ships final voyage. She is warned that as soon as her investigation into the Lusitania and the search for the cables becomes known, her life and anyone close to her will be in danger. She is to enlist the support of Richard Banks, an intelligence operative with whom she had an unresolved relationship some years earlier. She is also to contact Gregory Grant, an enigmatic media tycoon, based in London. The three families appear to have a connection to the Lusitania. William Kaister, a ruthless, wealthy and well connected German financier and businessman is also an illegitimate descendant of Kaiser Wilhelm 2. He believes his forefather was unjustly pilloried and lost the German throne as a consequence of the sinking of the liner. He is intent on righting the wrongs of history. He is intensely interested in anything concerning the Lusitania and will eliminate any obstacle to his quest. However, he is unaware of the existence of the cables. The search for the cables starts in Liverpool, moves to London and onto to Washington. Lauren, Richard and Gregory suddenly find themselves the target of a lethal manhunt stretching across three continents. They are called to the White House and the search encompasses Downing Street and Buckingham Palace. The story involves conspiracy, romance, monarchies, politics, banking, governments and a dangerous history before arriving at a staggering revelation.

The Titanic is one of the most famous maritime disasters of all time, but did the Titanic really sink on the morning of 15 April 1912? Titanic's older sister, the nearly identical Olympic, was involved in a serious accident in September 1911 – an accident that may have made her a liability to her owners the White Star Line. Since 1912 rumours of a conspiracy to switch the two sisters in an elaborate insurance scam has always loomed behind the tragic story of the Titanic. Could the White Star Line have really switched the Olympic with her near identical sister in a ruse to intentionally sink their mortally damaged flagship in April 1912, in order to cash in on the insurance policy? Laying bare the famous conspiracy theory, world-respected Titanic researchers investigate claims that the sister ships were switched in an insurance scam and provide definitive proof for whether it could - or could not - have happened.

Before Titanic, there was Lusitania... This unprecedented two-volume set will bring Lusitania's history to life as never before

It was the railway's Titanic. A horrific crash involving five trains in which 230 died and 246 were injured, it remains the worst disaster in the long history of Britain's rail network.The location was the isolated signal box at Quintinshill, on the Anglo-Scottish border near Gretna; the date, 22 May 1915. Amongst the dead and injured were women and children but most of the casualties were Scottish soldiers on their way to fight in the Gallipoli campaign. Territorials setting off for war on a distant battlefield were to die, not in battle, but on home soil victims, it was said, of serious incompetence and a shoddy regard for procedure in the signal box, resulting in two signalmen being sent to prison. Startling new evidence reveals that the failures which led to the disaster were far more complex and wide-reaching than signalling negligence. Using previously undisclosed documents, the authors have been able to access official records from the time and have uncovered ahighly shocking and controversial truth behind what actually happened at Quintinshill and the extraordinary attempts to hide the truth.As featured in Dumfries & Galloway Life magazine, January 2014.

'Into the Danger Zone' recounts what it was like for both the military and civilians to experience a transatlantic voyage in a time of war and uncertainty, at risk from any number of dangers, including U-boats, mines and enemy surface vessels.