Close to Shore - Michael Capuzzo

 Sub-title: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916

I'd left this book at a rental condo many years ago and had not had a chance to read more then a few pages. I picked it up recently again and am glad that I did.  It's the story of a great white shark that terrorized the New Jersey shore just as the U.S. entered into WWI.  The story shifts from the shark's perspective who ends up "close to shore" because of errant ocean currents and the innocent well-to-do beach goers who get attacked.  In a time when news took many hours to reach the city from the beach front, the initial attacks were scoffed at.  The shark ended up entering a creek and attacking a young boy.  A good read that took me back to a simpler time unprepared for tragedy.

Published: 2002  Read: September 2024  Genre: History

Dead Wake - Eric Larson

Sub-title: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania

I've enjoyed many other books by this author - in fact, I've read this one before, back in 2015! I'm just adding some notes from reading this time around.  I have to go look for his latest writing!

Quotes/Comments

"Lothrop Withington was on the ship, an authority of genealogy with a special expertise in Salem, Massachusetts."

"Elbert Hubbard, author of an inspirational essay..." A Message to Garcia."

"Wilhelm Uno Meriheina, a race car driver...had been born in Russia in the Duchy of Finland (which became independent in 1917)"

Published: 2015  Read: April 2024  Genre: History