4/29/2015

ODS Reminder: Tonight's Lusitania Lecture

Drogheda Society

 

 

The final lecture in the Old Drogheda Society Spring lecture series, The Lusitania Conspiracy? will be given by Dr Ken Baker on tonight  April 29th at 8pm in the Governor’s House, Millmount .

Dr Baker is a self confessed history addict. He used to teach it to Leaving Cert level,. It drove his PhD studies (in ancient historical documents), and his very first job after leaving school was a six month archaeological dig, sifting through an Anglo-Saxon settlement on the shores of the river Thames. These days he just writes about it. His latest publication is The Lusitania Conspiracy?

For one brief shining moment, the Lusitania, a British-built ocean liner, was the largest, fastest and most luxurious ship in the world. When she was torpedoed by a German submarine in May 1915, she sunk in just under fifteen minutes, taking over 1200 passengers and crew to their deaths.

The New York Times reported a “grave crisis at hand” which was the question of Washington’s response to this outrage. Would the American government retaliate against this “monstrous act of aggression” by joining Britain and her allies against the Kaiser’s Germany?

And here we come, immediately, to the first whiff of historical discussion which may, (or may not), validate the use of the word “Conspiracy”. Was there more going on here than meets the eye.

The lecture is open to the general public and there will be a bookstall on the night.
 
Old Drogheda Society - History, Archaeology & Heritage, Millmount, Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland. Tel. 041-9833097

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