Nick BarrattLost Voices from the Titanic: The Definitive Oral History
New York: Palgrave Macmillan/ St. Martin's Press, 2010
286 pp
When the HMS Titanic was built by Harland and Wolff for the British White Star Line in 1909-12, it was the largest passenger ship in the world, and also one of the most luxurious: the first class passengers enjoyed a gymnasium, squash court, Turkish bath and café, among other amenities, and their state rooms were magnificently appointed.
Late in the evening on April 14, 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland and a few hours later, it sank, killing roughly two-thirds of the passengers on it. As one of the worst peacetime disasters at sea, the sinking of the Titanic has been written about extensively - indeed, so much so that at first, it would seem that there was nothing new to write about it. Nick Barratt's excellent oral history of the building, sailing and sinking of the Titanic proves that this is not so.
The opening chapters set the pre-World War I scene (mainly in England and the US) and the building of the ship - the newspaper excerpts and company archival material will intrigue those who are interested in the mechanics of ship-building. It was after this section that, for me, the book became impossible to put down - once, that is, the ship was about to sail, then was on its maiden and final voyage. Reading the story as told in the words of crew and passengers was an amazing experience. Barratt is certainly a presence in Lost Voices, but a welcome one as he guides us through the complex history of the White Star Line, the building and launching of the Titanic, the disaster, and its aftermath.
Barratt has done an incredible amount of research and found amazing documents - including letters from passengers both during and after the disaster - newspaper articles from papers both familiar and obscure - and papers pertaining to the White Star Line. Fortunately for us, Barratt's Voices are no longer lost, having been rescued by him from the depths of archives and personal collections.
NOTE (in the interests of disclosure): This book was sent to me gratis by the publisher, but the opinions in this review are my own.
9 comments:
OK, I'm interested, and I can count the number of nonfiction books that intrigue me on one hand.
It's a subject that fascinates me.
80% of the crew came from Southampton and well over 600 died, so the impact of the disaster on the city was enormous. There are memorials for them in various places around the city.
This sounds like a great read. I am a history junkie myself.
My daughter has several books about the Titanic as well as the stories. I will have to let her know about this :)
I have been interested in the history (legend?) of the Titanic for a very long time, and have collected books and clippings about it. This book seems well worth checking out. Thank you.
Hello, Lidian. I wonder if the book mentions the head of the NYC ports (at the time of the sinking) lived on West Ninth Street, and he assembled a group of socialites - - including his wife - - who all went over to the westside piers to help the survivors. And when they met some young girls from Scotland, good candidates to be servants, these socialites hired the young females right away . . . at wages well below the acceptable salary in 1912.
Such are the people who will find a silver lining in any cloud.
:-D
BY THE WAY:
On Saturday August 14th, 20010 we are doing the annual MAE WEST tribute in Manhattan. This August we will include SOPHIE TUCKER in our event.
Come up sometime to the Mae West Blog, Lidian!
Wow, this sounds like a fascinating read! I'm becoming more and more interested in historical spoken-word accounts and this is definitely going on my to-read list. Nice review.
It sounds like a great read, will look out for it :)
It will be interesting to read about the While Star Line and how the Titanic was such a big part of their history.
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