Helpful Score: 4
This is arguably the definitive book on the sinking of the Titanic. It really was wonderful, but I wish it had been longer with even more information. However, you really do get a good sense of how this tragedy happened, how quickly it happened, and why the rescue response to this sinking giant was too little and too late. If you are at all interested in the Titanic, this is a must-read, since it is pretty much the backbone of Titanic histories.
Helpful Score: 1
Very detail oriented book on the Sinking of the Titanic. Very easy to follow. Filled with facts and a drawing of the boat.
Helpful Score: 1
The sad but true disaster story told in a very compelling manner. I couldn't put this book down. it was very Interesting to see the details from different survivors... the famous and not so famous passengers the captain, the stewards and the telegraph operator.
The story also includes the appropriate and inappropriate reactions on neighboring ships. The nearest ship, within eyesight of the sinking Titanic, misinterpreted the Emergency Flares and went about it's business ... while a ship further away got the message, and turned off all supplemental heat and electricity in order to speed to the scene at top speed.
A recommended read.
The story also includes the appropriate and inappropriate reactions on neighboring ships. The nearest ship, within eyesight of the sinking Titanic, misinterpreted the Emergency Flares and went about it's business ... while a ship further away got the message, and turned off all supplemental heat and electricity in order to speed to the scene at top speed.
A recommended read.
Helpful Score: 1
Wonderfully researched book that reads like a novel. You won't be able to put it down even though you know how it turns out.
Helpful Score: 1
If you read one book on the Titanic, this is the one it should be. It stays with you long after the last page.
Helpful Score: 1
Interesting minute by minute story of the sinking of the titanic
Helpful Score: 1
Compelling read based on the Titanic sinking!
This extraordinary book is still the pre-emminent account of the demise of the Titanic, even over a century after the event occurred. It was really the first attempt to piece together the fractured mosaic fragments of survivor testimony, both as recorded in the wake of the Congressional hearings, and from the recollections of people, some decades after the tragedy, to provide a running narrative of what happened that night. It creates a story that readers can follow, in excruciating detail, concerning the events of that tragic night. It is indeed the story of a single night, long ago, but not so far in the distant past that it is incomprehensible to modern-day readers.
Walter Lord's personal history is also a fascinating one. He reported that his interest in all things Titanic was initially sparked when traveling on the great liner's sister ship, the Olympic, as a boy. He was evidently aware of the sinking of the Titanic on that voyage, as he stated that even at age ten, he tried to imagine "such a huge thing" sinking. Having a penchant for history from childhood, he attended Princeton University where he majored in history, and later graduated from Yale Law School, but ultimately joined a New York-based advertising agency. "A Night to Remember" was only his second book. He wrote another Titanic-related account, after re-discovery of the wreck by Bob Ballard, in 1985, but none of his subsequent works reached the fame of this one. Walter Lord died in 2002, bequeathing his large Titanic collection, which was comprised of manuscripts, original letters, research materials, and memorabilia, to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England.
People's fascination with the Titanic disaster seems timeless. This short but comprehensive book, the culmination of a lifetime spent researching the Titanic, and even collecting memorabilia, was released in November, 1955, to critical acclaim. Only two months later, the book had already sold an astonishing 60,000 copies, and remained a best-seller for six months. Since its initial publication, the book has never been out of print, and has been translated into a dozen languages. Perhaps due to the enormous swell of renewed interest following the release of the immensely popular James Cameron movie, the book reached its fiftieth printing in 1998.
Lord's storytelling is remarkable: his detailed descriptions are highly visual, putting the reader in the midst of the terrifying events on that bitterly cold night when more than 1,500 men, women and children lost their lives in the frigid and unforgiving sea. Perhaps that is the book's greatest strength: its humanity, as it never loses sight of the human element juxtaposed against the immensity of the tragedy. Lord wrote in the acknowledgement section, for example: "this book is really about the last night of a small town. The Titanic was that big, and carried that many people." Two-thirds of the population of that small town did not survive that frigid night, dying in terror and agony comparable to being burned alive - such is the pain survivors report of being submerged in freezing water, in this case, even below the typical freezing temperature of water, at 29 degrees.
The novel recounts the story through the words, actions and emotions of the persons involved. Lord's account is a comprehensive narrative, effectively told by the survivors themselves, which weaves a rich tapestry, from the different perspectives and experiences of the people who lived them. The account also moves forward and backward in time, from location to location, often overlapping the narratives, but fairly seamlessly, such that the trajectory of the overall event is retained. It's a very information-rich account, replete with an astonishing amount of detail, but it's highly accessible, and, despite the minutiae, the reader doesn't get lost in the weeds. The ability to include so much detail and to still maintain a comprehensive, engaging narrative is an enviable talent, one which Lord embodies.
The book is thus exhaustively researched: the primary reason it is so detailed is that Lord was able to interview 63 survivors of the event, as the book was first published in 1955, just over forty years after the sinking of the Titanic. He also included other published material, as there was sufficient time for much to have been written by others as well, including books, memoirs, journal articles and even some drawings and plans. Lord even served as a technical consultant to James Cameron during the production of the world blockbuster "Titanic," released in 1997.
The most poignant aspect of this book is the manifest trust the survivors had in Walter Lord to tell their stories with accuracy, truthfulness, compassion and dignity, a far cry from the salacious newspaper accounts immediately following the sinking. In the acknowledgement section at the end of the book, for example, Lord recounts an all-too familiar occurrence for the survivors of traumatic events. The Countess of Rothes, an oft-portrayed character in the numerous movies which have graced the silver screen over the years (whose actual name was Noel McFie), reported to Lord that once, while dining out with a friend a year after the disaster, she was suddenly overcome by a cold, intense horror, displaying the symptoms of what we would today recognize as a panic attack. She only realized later the reason why: the orchestra had been playing "The Tales of Hoffmann," the last piece of after-dinner music that had regaled the First-Class diners that Sunday night, during the last dinner service on the Titanic. PTSD likely followed some survivors to their graves, unrecognized, unacknowledged, and untreated. Another survivor, Elizabeth Nye, provided the chilling detail that earlier in the evening on that fateful Sunday night, as the sun sank into the ink-black sea and the temperature plummeted, some passengers had gathered in the Second-Class dining room for a hymn-sing, the last song of which was "Eternal Father, Strong to Save," which ends with the lyrics, "O hear us, when we cry to thee, for those in peril on the sea." Amen.
Walter Lord's personal history is also a fascinating one. He reported that his interest in all things Titanic was initially sparked when traveling on the great liner's sister ship, the Olympic, as a boy. He was evidently aware of the sinking of the Titanic on that voyage, as he stated that even at age ten, he tried to imagine "such a huge thing" sinking. Having a penchant for history from childhood, he attended Princeton University where he majored in history, and later graduated from Yale Law School, but ultimately joined a New York-based advertising agency. "A Night to Remember" was only his second book. He wrote another Titanic-related account, after re-discovery of the wreck by Bob Ballard, in 1985, but none of his subsequent works reached the fame of this one. Walter Lord died in 2002, bequeathing his large Titanic collection, which was comprised of manuscripts, original letters, research materials, and memorabilia, to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England.
People's fascination with the Titanic disaster seems timeless. This short but comprehensive book, the culmination of a lifetime spent researching the Titanic, and even collecting memorabilia, was released in November, 1955, to critical acclaim. Only two months later, the book had already sold an astonishing 60,000 copies, and remained a best-seller for six months. Since its initial publication, the book has never been out of print, and has been translated into a dozen languages. Perhaps due to the enormous swell of renewed interest following the release of the immensely popular James Cameron movie, the book reached its fiftieth printing in 1998.
Lord's storytelling is remarkable: his detailed descriptions are highly visual, putting the reader in the midst of the terrifying events on that bitterly cold night when more than 1,500 men, women and children lost their lives in the frigid and unforgiving sea. Perhaps that is the book's greatest strength: its humanity, as it never loses sight of the human element juxtaposed against the immensity of the tragedy. Lord wrote in the acknowledgement section, for example: "this book is really about the last night of a small town. The Titanic was that big, and carried that many people." Two-thirds of the population of that small town did not survive that frigid night, dying in terror and agony comparable to being burned alive - such is the pain survivors report of being submerged in freezing water, in this case, even below the typical freezing temperature of water, at 29 degrees.
The novel recounts the story through the words, actions and emotions of the persons involved. Lord's account is a comprehensive narrative, effectively told by the survivors themselves, which weaves a rich tapestry, from the different perspectives and experiences of the people who lived them. The account also moves forward and backward in time, from location to location, often overlapping the narratives, but fairly seamlessly, such that the trajectory of the overall event is retained. It's a very information-rich account, replete with an astonishing amount of detail, but it's highly accessible, and, despite the minutiae, the reader doesn't get lost in the weeds. The ability to include so much detail and to still maintain a comprehensive, engaging narrative is an enviable talent, one which Lord embodies.
The book is thus exhaustively researched: the primary reason it is so detailed is that Lord was able to interview 63 survivors of the event, as the book was first published in 1955, just over forty years after the sinking of the Titanic. He also included other published material, as there was sufficient time for much to have been written by others as well, including books, memoirs, journal articles and even some drawings and plans. Lord even served as a technical consultant to James Cameron during the production of the world blockbuster "Titanic," released in 1997.
The most poignant aspect of this book is the manifest trust the survivors had in Walter Lord to tell their stories with accuracy, truthfulness, compassion and dignity, a far cry from the salacious newspaper accounts immediately following the sinking. In the acknowledgement section at the end of the book, for example, Lord recounts an all-too familiar occurrence for the survivors of traumatic events. The Countess of Rothes, an oft-portrayed character in the numerous movies which have graced the silver screen over the years (whose actual name was Noel McFie), reported to Lord that once, while dining out with a friend a year after the disaster, she was suddenly overcome by a cold, intense horror, displaying the symptoms of what we would today recognize as a panic attack. She only realized later the reason why: the orchestra had been playing "The Tales of Hoffmann," the last piece of after-dinner music that had regaled the First-Class diners that Sunday night, during the last dinner service on the Titanic. PTSD likely followed some survivors to their graves, unrecognized, unacknowledged, and untreated. Another survivor, Elizabeth Nye, provided the chilling detail that earlier in the evening on that fateful Sunday night, as the sun sank into the ink-black sea and the temperature plummeted, some passengers had gathered in the Second-Class dining room for a hymn-sing, the last song of which was "Eternal Father, Strong to Save," which ends with the lyrics, "O hear us, when we cry to thee, for those in peril on the sea." Amen.
A classic..how could you not love it?
This is an excellent minute-by-minute account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 14 & 15, 1912. The story is told through numerous interviews with passengers and crew members who survived. There were even interviews with the crew of the Carpathia, the ship that picked up the survivors who were waiting in the 28 lifeboats. This story tells us of many acts of heroism by the passengers and crew. There were also some conflicting accounts of what happened in the ship's final hours.
I've always found stories of the Titanic fascinating so when I saw this book offered at Audible, I wanted to listen to it. This is a classic story originally published in 1955. The audio is narrated by Martin Jarvis who does an excellent job. My rating: 5 Stars.
I've always found stories of the Titanic fascinating so when I saw this book offered at Audible, I wanted to listen to it. This is a classic story originally published in 1955. The audio is narrated by Martin Jarvis who does an excellent job. My rating: 5 Stars.
If youre a Titanic fan I highly recommend reading this chilling account based on the actual people who survived and the passengers on the Carpathia. Though eyewitness accounts of any great tragedy will differ from person to person the author did a great a job in retelling their stories. If you don't have any knowledge of a ships layout (like me) I recommend you have a diagram of the Titanic before you start reading this book to get a better understanding of where people were on the ship. The movie (outside of the love story) actually did a good job on depicting the night of the sinking.
Interesting to hear the different witness details, but the writing was rather choppy. No fluid story line. It did start to pick up pace toward the end though. Overall a pretty good book. Author didn't take any liberties.
This is the story of the "unsinkable" Titanic. She was four city blocks long, with the latest, most ingenious safety devices; a French "side-walk cafe," private promenade decks -- but only twenty lifeboats for the 2,207 passengers on board. 1977 38th printing by Bantam
an amazing book. a must read for any1 not just titanic lovers
I have a "thing" for books about the Titanic. While short, this is one of my favorite books on the subject.
This was a very engaging account of the last night of the Titanic. The book was originally published in 1955 and Walter Lord was able to interview many of the survivors as well as research the written accounts of the sinking to come up with this really mesmerizing narrative. It basically starts out with the Titanic hitting an iceberg on that tragic night of April 14-15, 1912 and then details what happened aboard ship. Many passengers were unsure as to what happened up until it became obvious and even then many felt the ship would never sink. Of course, the Titanic was billed as unsinkable and many could not believe it was doomed. And then there were all the fateful occurrences that helped lead to the disaster such as the ignorance of the radio operators on the nearby Californian that failed to come to their rescue, the lack of a proper number of lifeboats, the way the ship hit the iceberg, etc. Lord poses it as follows: "What troubled people especially was not just the tragedy â or even its needlessness â but the element of fate in it all. If the Titanic had heeded any of the six ice messages on Sunday ... if ice conditions had been normal ... if the night had been rough or moonlit ... if she had seen the berg 15 seconds sooner â or 15 seconds later ... if she had hit the ice any other way ... if her watertight bulkheads had been one deck higher ... if she had carried enough boats ... if the Californian had only come ... Had any one of those 'ifs' turned out right, every life might have been saved. But they all went against her â a classic Greek tragedy."
This was truly a superb piece of nonfiction narrative. The Titanic disaster has been written about extensively and made into several movies including A Night to Remember made in 1958 and the 1997 blockbuster Titanic which I actually quite enjoyed. But for an intense compelling true account of the disaster, this book probably is hard to top!
This was truly a superb piece of nonfiction narrative. The Titanic disaster has been written about extensively and made into several movies including A Night to Remember made in 1958 and the 1997 blockbuster Titanic which I actually quite enjoyed. But for an intense compelling true account of the disaster, this book probably is hard to top!
Excellent nonfiction book of the sinking of the Titanic.
In my oppion the best book about Titanic anyone can read. I own about 20 different Titanic books, and this one is hands down the best. Kudos to Walter Lord!
Great for any Titanic buff!
I first read this in 7th grade--it was a very popular book in the late 1950s and remained so as it is very readable. This is the fiftieth anniversary edition with an introduction by Mr. Philbrick that is calculated to sell more books. This copy is from the fifth printing so he succeeded. It ends with a couple of pages of facts about the ship and a passenger list. No photos, bibliography, or index. No index means I take one star off my evaluation.
This was a great rendition of the story of the sinking of the Titanic. It is the true story that puts the disaster in easy to understand terms. Many times, the listener feels they are right there as it is happening. Sometimes you want to scream, and many times, do cringe, at some of the mis-steps that brought about the tragedy. Martin Jarvis reads it exceptionally well, and it is not so long as to get tedious or boring.
Classic detailed account of the Titanic tragedy
