Dave- For reasons too numerous to list here, neither of those books should inspire confidence. A friendly suggestion- track down the American Limitation of Liability hearings transcripts. At .50 per page, photocopied, and more than 500 pages of first person testimony, it is not inexpensive but worth every penny. A few surprises contained within-for instance, there WAS a military vessel of some sort that sailed alongsise the Lusitania that morning before picking up speed and steaming away from her- witnessed by among others Belle Naish and Maude Thompson (independent of one another) and their husbands, both of whom died that afternoon.
There has never been a first rate Lusitania book, at least from the political angle, and Hoehling and Moloney's works are pretty much it in the worthwhile passenger accounts file. Your best bet is to forget everything you've thus far read and amass as much primary research as you can. In descending order:
Limitation of Liabilty testimony: Must Have
Prichard Letters: Imperial War Museum.
Wesley Frost Papers
Cunard Archives: much garbage, but at the same time much gold to be found.
Mixed Claims Commission Files: not the printed summary but the actual case files of the US passengers suits against Germany.
US "Second City" newspapers: The big city dailies were great for photos, but smaller cities tended to be more aggressive in pursuing letters home from survivors, and interviews when they started coming home later in May and on into June.
The Mersey Hearings, although necessary, are of middling value. The expense incurred in collecting the sources listed above is more than justified by the amount you will learn that hasn't made the books. Yet.
