Product Description

What it was really like. Panic, despair, shocking inefficiency, and a little heroism. Two lengthy narratives by passengers who had a thorough knowledge of the sea and by members of the ship’s crew. More thrilling than any fictional account. 26 illustrations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #85881 in Books
• Published on: 1960-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780486206103
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Amazon.com Review
This invaluable book collects some of the first-published first-person accounts of the tragedy, described in old-fashioned prose and enhanced by photographs and illustrations redolent of Edwardian society, with captions such as "Ladies and gentlemen in riding habit exercised on mechanical horses and camels in the ship's gymnasium." Some of the social attitudes of the day are preserved to often startling effect: the habits of obedience of "the Teutonic race" are repeatedly praised, and one brave Titanic officer used what the book's introduction terms "the strange ethical algebra which decided that one female, travelling first class, deserved life some six times as much as one male, travelling third class." Yet it's just such period detail that makes this book so compelling--not to mention the vivid sense that the passengers just didn't get it, even while disaster was upon them. "To illustrate further how little danger was apprehended," writes survivor Lawrence Beesley, "when it was discovered ... that the forward lower deck was covered with small ice, snowballing matches were arranged for the following morning.... The cries of drowning people after the Titanic gave the final plunge were a thunderbolt to us."

Customer Reviews

Shows the Value of Eyewitness Accounts
This Titanic book is different from most others in being told entirely from the perspective of survivors. Two of the surviving passengers and crew tell of the ship's last hours. The first story is told by passenger Lawrence Beesley, a science prof. on his way to America. His account details the trip from Southhampton to New York. Beesley was a level headed individual who tells the story in an almost detached fashion, without fear or hysteria. His detail and objectivity make this my favorite eyewitness account. The writings of Lightoller and Bride are excellent as well. They do a good job of conveying the approaching terror people must have felt as the ship went down. One realizes that they knew what would happen, while many passengers did not. Archibald Gracie's chapter was less good. It begins alright, but he ends up giving us a detailed review of the lowering of each lifeboat, something any later researcher could have done. And unless Gracie was taking notes at the time, I find it hard to believe this was his experience! But all in all, this book is a must for Titanic buffs. It gives us a look into the tragedy that few other books can.

Compelling accounts of tragedy!
This book gives four informative, exciting, compelling accounts of the Titanic tragedy. The Lightholler report, being the only survivor amongst the senior officers & quite liberally mentioned by the other authors, is particularly interesting. The stoic response by the vast majority of obviously doomed male passengers to the prospect of drowning in sub-zero temperature water, as they stood orderly by, or assisted in the loading of women & children in the life-boats, is quite staggering. One of the storytellers has a sad, old-fashioned tendency to describe many of the non-English speaking survivors in very disparaging terms. Indeed, Gracie quite often comes across as annoyingly pompous in his descriptions. On the other hand the short report of the surviving wirelessman is totally unstuffy & hugely readable. The inquiries' treatment of Ismay, the President of Titanic's Company & a survivor against all the odds for single males, is particularly interesting . The book also highlights some of the movie's mistakes, especially the breaking off of the stern section prior to sinking. On the whole a good book & worth buying.

riveting, but sometimes hard to read
Overall, this book was virtually impossible to put down. To hear the story of the Titanic as told by some of its survivors, puts you right there in the water with them. There are only two drawbacks to this book. The first one is that the English written in 1912's vernacular is sometimes a bit cumbersome. The second one is that Archibald Gracie's book, while interesting, sometimes gets bogged down in details. However, despite some minor drawbacks for the 90's reader, I would recommend this book for anyone with even a slight interest in the story of the Titanic beyond what we got to see in James Cameron's movie.