Exploring the Lusitania : Probing the Mysteries of the Sinking That Changed History

New York: Warner Books, Inc, 1995. 8.75" wide by 11.25" tall. Near Fine condition in bright, shiny Very Good+ Dust Jacket. Not a book club edition. No owner's name or bookplate. No remainder marks. No underlining. No highlighting. No margin notes. Clean, square, and tight. Lavishly illustrated with photographs and Ken Marschall's paintings in beautiful full-color. Bibliography. Index. From the Dust Jacket: "In May of 1915, a German torpedo sank the sleek Cunard liner Lusitania with the loss of 1,195 civilian lives. The sinking turned world opinion against Germany, and the deaths of 123 American passengers was the first step in bringing the United States into World War I. But almost from the moment the torpedo was fired, controversy has surrounded the Lusitania. Why did she sink so quickly? Why was there a second explosion? Had the liner been carrying munitions for the British? Did Winston Churchill, then First Sea Lord, allow the sinking in the hope that it might draw America into the war? Rumors of conspiracies and covers-ups surround the liner, and eighty years later she is still a ship of mystery. In August of 1993, Dr Robert Ballard, the discoverer of the Titanic and the Bismarck, led an expedition to the wreck of the Lusitania, off the coast of Ireland, in search of answers. Using a small submarine and remotely controlled camera vehicles, Ballard and his team studied the wreck like a team of underwater detectives trying to solve a murder mystery. Their high quality underwater images of the shattered wreck shed new light on the cause of the sinking that sent her to the bottom in minutes… EXPLORING THE LUSITANIA is also a glorious illustrated history of one of the proudest examples of an age when liners ruled the sea lanes, featuring Ballard's excellent underwater photography paired with high-quality archival material in 'then-and-now' spreads.". First Edition. Hard Cover. Publisher's green boards/DJ Not Price Clipped (45.00). Illus. by Marschall, Ken (paintings). 228pp.