The book, Exploring The Lusitania: Probing The Mysteries Of The Sinking That Changed History follows legendary marine explorer Dr. Robert D. Ballard as he leads an expedition in August of 1993 to the wreck of the Lusitania, off the coast of Ireland.  What is known for sure, as the expedition gets underway, is that in May, 1915, a German U-boat fired a torpedo at the Lusitania, which quickly sank the proud Cunard liner with the loss of 1,195 lives including 123 Americans.  The high loss of American lives is generally cited as the first step in bringing the United States into World War I on the side of the Allies.  Almost from the moment the U-boat fired their torpedo, however, there has been much speculation as to why this great ship sank in less than twenty minutes.  Questions related to whether or not the Lusitania was carrying munitions, which would have made her fair game for an attack and why there was a large secondary explosion have swirled around this great maritime tragedy for decades.  Dr. Ballard's team, using a small submarine and remotely controlled camera vehicles studied the wreck like undersea detectives with a mind towards putting to rest once and for all the many theories surrounding this sea tragedy.  "Exploring The Lusitania: Probing The Mysteries Of The Sinking That Changed History" also represents a glorious illustrated history of one of the proudest examples of an era long lost when giant passenger liners ruled the oceans.  This story is all the more interesting when Dr. Ballard and his team pair underwater high-quality color photographs with archival photographs paired in fascinating "then and now" spreads.  The major sections of "Exploring The Lusitania: Probing The Mysteries Of The Sinking That Changed History" are as follows: 1) Chapter One - The Old Head of Kinsale, 1993; 2) Chapter Two - The 202nd Crossing; 3) Chapter Three - The Last Departure; 4) Chapter Four - A Fateful Encounter; 5) Chapter Five - Abandon Ship!; 6) Chapter Six - Pointing the Finger; 7) Chapter Seven - Exploring the Lusitania; 8) Chapter Eight - Lusitania Then and Now; 9) Chapter Nine - What Sank the Lusitania; 10) Chapter Ten - Epilogue; 11) Chronology and 12) End Matter.  In addition to an informative narrative, "Exploring The Lusitania: Probing The Mysteries Of The Sinking That Changed History" includes the following features: 1) Approximately 158 black and white photographs; 2) About 83 color photographs; 3) 4 black and white illustrations; 4) Approximately 19 color illustrations many of which are full page color paintings and 5) 3 maps.  This book is 228 pages and is in very good condition.  The authors are Robert D. Ballard and Spencer Dunmore with Ken Marschall (paintings).  Edition published in 1995.