Lusitania: An Illustrated Biography (Volume Two)

On 7 May 1915, one of the most beloved and legendary liners of the North Atlantic was torpedoed by a German U-boat, taking 1,187 of her passengers and crew to an untimely demise. She had become a victim of the First World War, the most brutal conflict the world had yet seen.

Lusitania: An Illustrated Biography is a comprehensive two-part look at her entire story, from her origins in the shipyards of Clydebank to her terrible, tragic end. It reveals her as she has never been seen before through words, historical photographs, and breath-taking computer-rendered imagery.

Volume Two: A Greyhound's Downfall joins Lusitania on the eve of war, just days after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. It tells her story through the First World War, to her violent sinking and the repercussions in her wake; it details how her name, once synonymous with technological marvels and magic, became a rallying cry on the battlefields.

Prepare to take a journey back in time. Step aboard one of the largest, fastest and most beloved ocean liners of all time – a triumph of the Edwardian era – and relive her complete history in all its splendour.

About the Authors

J. Kent Layton has been passionate about the great Atlantic liners from a young age and has written prolifically about them ever since. He is the author of The Unseen Mauretania (1907), Transatlantic Liners, and Conspiracies at Sea: Titanic and Lusitania. Together with Tad Fitch and Bill Wormstedt, he co-authored the groundbreaking volume On a Sea of Glass: The Life & Loss of the RMS Titanic (nominated for the 2012 Mountbatten Maritime Award), Recreating Titanic and Her Sisters: A Visual History, and Titanic: Solving the Mysteries. He lives in the Finger Lakes region of Central New York.

Tad Fitch is a member of both the Titanic Historical Society and the Titanic International Society, and has appeared in the documentary series Titanic: Stories from the Deep. He has been researching maritime history for over 30 years and has co-authored such books as Report Into the Loss of SS Titanic: A Centennial Reappraisal, Into the Danger Zone: The Lusitania, First Battle of the Atlantic, and Liners During the Great War. His books have twice been nominated for the Mountbatten Award. Alongside J. Kent Layton, he is the author of The Unseen Aquitania (The History Press, 2024). He lives in Ohio.

Michael Poirier is a trustee for the Titanic International Society and co-author of Into the Danger Zone (Blurb Books, 2023). He collects ocean liner memorabilia and has provided research materials for numerous books and documentaries.

Thomas Lynskey is the founder of HFX Studios, which creates and produces documentaries and virtual museum experiences that bring history to life. He is currently working on a virtual museum experience for Lusitania.

Levi Rourke is an animator for HFX Studios who specialises in vivid recreations that show great liners in all their glory. He was the lead animator for the virtual museum experience Britannic: Patroness of the Mediterranean and Titanic's real-time sinking animation On a Sea of Glass.