The Day the World Was Shocked: The Lusita- nia Disaster and its Influence on the Course of World War I

摘要

The story of the Lusitania disaster and its effect on world history is retold here by John Protasio. The Day the World Was Shocked offers little new analysis or insight into the tragic sinking of the Cunard liner, but serves as a work of synthesis, bringing together in one slim volume the basic facts and arguments about this incident. That said, the work is not entirely derivative: Protasio uses first-person accounts to bring home the horrors of life-and-death scenarios at sea. The heart-rending images of children being swept from mothers' arms, or of elderly victims succumbing to the cold waters of the North Atlantic, are too numerous too mention, but add a chilling human dimension to a story all-too-often retold as one of international importance but ignoring individual suffering.