The Story of the Titanic As Told by Its Survivors (Dover Maritime)
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Book Summary Information
Editor: Jack WinocourEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1960-06-01
ISBN: 0486206106
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Dover Publications
Book Reviews of The Story of the Titanic As Told by Its Survivors (Dover Maritime)
Book Review: unsurpassed
Summary: 5 Stars
"That cold green water, crawling its ghostly way up the staircase, was a sight that stamped itself indelibly in my memory. Step, by step, it made its way up, covering the electric lights, which for a short time shone under the suface with a horribly weird effect." This, tetsimony from an officer of the ship, named Lightoller, matches any description for effect that any fiction writer could create. It is the fact that this book is taken from the testimony of four of Titanic's survivors that makes this book so excellent. One gets a real sense of the times---Edwardian England---where duty was paramount and the supposed superiorty of the English race, which colors the survivor's accounts, hints at the very pride that contributed to the disaster---a fascinating paradox. Not only do you get the testimoney from four survivors--each several chapters---but also a boat by boat testimonial from the survivors of those boats. Another reviewer here found this testimony mundane, but I found it fascinating and objectively complete. It seems that the most famous account of the disaster in book form, A Night to Remember, took much of its information from this book, and what makes this book so much more appealing is that the accounts are unfiltered. Captain Lightoller's account is particularly illuminating in that it shines a critical light on the Titanic hearings before the U.S. and English governments, which he calls a "farce." Another fascinating thing about this book is that despite the differing experiences related here by the survivors you begin to pick up bits and pieces of testimony that weave a common thread of experience among all---like a great puzzle.
Summary of The Story of the Titanic As Told by Its Survivors (Dover Maritime)
What it was really like. Panic, despair, shocking inefficiency, and a dash of 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.
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."
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