The Complete Titanic: From the Ship's Earliest Blueprints to the Epic Film

by Stephen J. Spignesi

The staggering success of James Cameron's blockbuster epic film Titanic illustrates the fact that the world continues to be fascinated with everything surrounding the ship and its sinking. However, for the Titanic connoisseur; there has been no one-stop source for everything Titanic ... until now.Spignesi, that renowned chronicler of pop culture, examines everything from the construction of the ship (including its cargo, supplies, and crew members) and the facts surrounding its passengers and those who survived to how the news media of the time covered the wreck, rumors, myths and legends, and the ultimate discovery of the ship on the floor of the Atlantic, more than two miles down. The Titanic Timeline (beginning in 1850) provides a massive collection of quotes about the ship and a comprehensive listing of Titanic books and films, related organizations, museums, web sites, and more. The text is peppered with dozens of contemporary documents, many of which have never appeared in book form.

The Complete Titanic trivializes nothing, the author taking it as his responsibility to tell the complete story. Never before has so much lore on history's greatest disaster been collected in a single volume.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

431 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1998

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book does a good job of doing what it set forth to do, it does feel a little - sensational, I guess? While there are some truly helpful and interesting nuggets, it feels a bit like digging for gold in and amongst the hype about James Cameron's movie (which I rewatch solely because of the absolutely beautifully recreated sets, definitely NOT for the story ugh). SJS's breakdown on a few of the more - erm - interesting specials ("Return to Titanic LIVE", anyone?) are very entertaining, but some of the straightforward historical "facts" are sadly littered with errors (two of the most annyoing are claiming that the fire on board started between Southampton and Cherbourg [it started in Belfast], Boxhall's coordinates for the sinking ship were absolutely correct [they were not]).

Three stars for some of the amazing images, and some takes on the ship and the incident I haven't seen anywhere else. But, ultimately, more for a casual "Titanic" reader rather than true, knowledgeable historians.

[Karina · Rating 5 out of 5]

V in depth, a mesmerizing read. V hard to put down, but also good for quick location of facts/data/trivia. Thoroughly enjoyed this!

[Frederick · Rating 4 out of 5]

For students of the early twentieth century this is a very informative book filled with primary source materials. Unfortunately, it is also sensationalistic, capitalizing on the success of the movie. Still, it would be hard to find the testimonies and first hand accounts assembled together elsewhere, as in this book. I recommend it for the eyewitness accounts of the tragedy alone.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new look at information about this tragedy. Although there was certainly some repetition this book offered a new perspective as historical data, accounts, news reports, etc. were examined with current scientific material/facts and modern perspectives. Very interesting!!!

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! It is the most complete collection of information on the Titanic that I've seen so far. As a huge fan of the movie, I was delighted with the section on the film as well.