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National Geographic Shorts
Titanic: Uncovering the Secrets of the World's Greatest Shipwreck
On the 100th anniversary of Titanic's sinking, National Geographic revisits the romance, glory, and tragedy of this tremendous ship and presents an insider’s look at the new findings about the passengers and scientific study of the wreck site. For 100 years the great ship Titanic has rested in its final grave on the ocean floor, lost to deep ocean darkness until its 1985 discovery by National Geographic’s Bob Ballard. Relive the spell-binding tragic final hours of the ship in a detailed retelling of the famous story and learn the personal stories of lesser-known passengers, including the “guarantees.” For the first time since its discovery, Ballard travels to Belfast to interview descendants of the ship builders and the “guarantee group”—the ill-fated men who traveled on the ship’s first voyage to assure its seaworthiness. Understand underwater mapping techniques that have brought Titanic’s debris field into high resolution, and get a glimpse of current deep ocean scientific research on the wreckage and the future of underwater exploration.
55 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 6, 2012
40 people are currently reading
109 people want to read
About the author
National Geographic Society
4,221 books1,112 followersThe National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical conservation, and the study of world culture and history. The National Geographic Society's logo is a yellow portrait frame—rectangular in shape—which appears on the margins surrounding the front covers of its magazines and as its television channel logo. Through National Geographic Partners (a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company), the Society operates the magazine, TV channels, a website, worldwide events, and other media operations.
Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical conservation, and the study of world culture and history. The National Geographic Society's logo is a yellow portrait frame—rectangular in shape—which appears on the margins surrounding the front covers of its magazines and as its television channel logo. Through National Geographic Partners (a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company), the Society operates the magazine, TV channels, a website, worldwide events, and other media operations.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 7, 2014
3,5 Stars!
An interesting, not extremely informative book about Titanic. If you have never read something about the ship, this book is good enough to give you a perspective..
While it starts with a beautiful intro written from Robert Ballard, that is not the only interesting part of the book. After exploring many theories and stories -which is quite entertaining- it leaves the reader pondering.
The Titanic is falling apart, it's fading day by day.
Preserve the wreck or let it go for ever? The opinions vary, but everyone is absolutely sure, that the legend of Titanic will continue to awe us for many years to come..
An interesting, not extremely informative book about Titanic. If you have never read something about the ship, this book is good enough to give you a perspective..
While it starts with a beautiful intro written from Robert Ballard, that is not the only interesting part of the book. After exploring many theories and stories -which is quite entertaining- it leaves the reader pondering.
The Titanic is falling apart, it's fading day by day.
Preserve the wreck or let it go for ever? The opinions vary, but everyone is absolutely sure, that the legend of Titanic will continue to awe us for many years to come..
February 22, 2015
I have always loved reading anything about the Titanic. This is a great book with lots of pics of the ship before it sailed, of it's wreckage and artifacts. Thoroughly enjoyable read.
October 24, 2017
Amazing!
Beautiful pictures, short overview on whole situation.
It's about the ship, about voyage, about people, about the research...
Beautiful pictures, short overview on whole situation.
It's about the ship, about voyage, about people, about the research...
September 17, 2018
I loved reading this because of course I'm obsessed with the Titanic. I know a lot about it but it's always nice to learn some new things. This one got into some of the Dives that they took to go down to see the Titanic and I saw a lot of pictures from the debris down there. So yes it was a very short read but it was still an amazing book.
June 26, 2019
This is very much a quick start guide to Titanic scholarship. Well written and only sensationalized in several small parts of telling the story, this NatGeo publication does not fall victim to myth and supposition. However, it could use a bit more detail on the crew of the ship and about the ongoing effort to preserve the wreck site.
March 27, 2020
It was very good and interesting. Also, it told me lots of things about the titanic that I did not know. I found it a really nice book to read and it taught me lots of things so I really liked it. But the book could have told more things about the inside of the titanic.
December 26, 2021
An interesting account of Titanic with things never brought up in other popular accounts.
July 11, 2024
Quick enjoyable book with loads of facts about the sinking of the Titanic. Loved the section on the lives of the passengers on board.
April 18, 2012
Fanatics will learn something new; curious will get a great overview
This title was advertised in the April 2012 issue of National Geographic, which of course I had to own since it had been well publicized that it would contain new photos of Titanic’s wreck. Although I’ve read more books on the disaster than I can recall, this one looked appealing, and since I had my Kindle on me and could order it and be reading it in under a minute (can we say “impulse buy,” anyone?) I decided to pick it up.
I first visited the NG website so procure my copy, but there it was only available for devices I didn’t own. A few people on that website had noted they found it “disappointing” and felt they had been “ripped off” because of its length, but deciding (like I usually do) that I was going to make up my own mind, I went to Amazon and found it – for a few cents cheaper – on Kindle.
In response to those people who found it disappointing and felt they were ripped off due to its length, I have only to say that if they’d bothered to pay attention, the line of books from which this comes is National Geographic Shorts: Quick Takes on Hot Topics. So right off the bat, I’m rendering those complaints invalid. If they’d wanted a longer work, they should not have purchased something that very clearly states “SHORTS” on its cover.
That said, I found this little work – which took me only an hour to read – engrossing. In three fact-filled, entertainingly-rendered chapters, the book provides overview of that fateful night, an introduction to a few of its passengers in all three classes, a down-and-dirty explanation of the prevailing theories over the years and where those theories stand now, and a history of even the earliest searches (right after she sank – bet you didn’t know that, right?) for the wreck right up until today.
What makes this book different and a must-own for anyone interested (obsessively or mildly) in the wreck is the section which reveals the contents of some passengers’ recovered suitcases, shedding light on their stories before sharing their fates. I found this portion alone worth my $3.82.
Those who are intimate with the wreck in its stories will undoubtedly learn something new; those who don’t or just want a surface knowledge should find this the only book they need.
This title was advertised in the April 2012 issue of National Geographic, which of course I had to own since it had been well publicized that it would contain new photos of Titanic’s wreck. Although I’ve read more books on the disaster than I can recall, this one looked appealing, and since I had my Kindle on me and could order it and be reading it in under a minute (can we say “impulse buy,” anyone?) I decided to pick it up.
I first visited the NG website so procure my copy, but there it was only available for devices I didn’t own. A few people on that website had noted they found it “disappointing” and felt they had been “ripped off” because of its length, but deciding (like I usually do) that I was going to make up my own mind, I went to Amazon and found it – for a few cents cheaper – on Kindle.
In response to those people who found it disappointing and felt they were ripped off due to its length, I have only to say that if they’d bothered to pay attention, the line of books from which this comes is National Geographic Shorts: Quick Takes on Hot Topics. So right off the bat, I’m rendering those complaints invalid. If they’d wanted a longer work, they should not have purchased something that very clearly states “SHORTS” on its cover.
That said, I found this little work – which took me only an hour to read – engrossing. In three fact-filled, entertainingly-rendered chapters, the book provides overview of that fateful night, an introduction to a few of its passengers in all three classes, a down-and-dirty explanation of the prevailing theories over the years and where those theories stand now, and a history of even the earliest searches (right after she sank – bet you didn’t know that, right?) for the wreck right up until today.
What makes this book different and a must-own for anyone interested (obsessively or mildly) in the wreck is the section which reveals the contents of some passengers’ recovered suitcases, shedding light on their stories before sharing their fates. I found this portion alone worth my $3.82.
Those who are intimate with the wreck in its stories will undoubtedly learn something new; those who don’t or just want a surface knowledge should find this the only book they need.
April 13, 2015
From National Geographic comes the short Titanic: Uncovering the Secrets of the World’s Greatest Shipwreck. Structured into three parts, Chapter 1 covers the sinking of the Titanic, Chapter 2 takes a look at who the passengers were and highlights a handful from each class, and Chapter 3 discusses the wreck and what various salvage operations have uncovered. For what it is, it’s a good cliffnotes version of the Titanic disaster and provides some interesting information about recent discoveries. Informative and well-written, Titanic: Uncovering the Secrets of the World’s Greatest Shipwreck provides a nice overview of this fascinating tragedy.
March 31, 2014
What a dive!
What a dive!
Well written. Would love to understand more about the recent revelations of the latest high tech. explorations. Need lots more pictures. Now I need to read up on that formidable guarantee crew.
What a dive!
Well written. Would love to understand more about the recent revelations of the latest high tech. explorations. Need lots more pictures. Now I need to read up on that formidable guarantee crew.
April 27, 2012
Very informative, but for the price I thought this "NG Short" would be more than 37 pages of literature. A lot of good photo's included that I had never seen before were interesting.
November 12, 2012
I like reading real accounts of the Titanic, and this was a very informative short story. It was the most up to date information I have read about the account of the tragedy.
October 30, 2013
I am really interested in this titanic book,since I've read almost every one
August 12, 2015
Very interesting, quick read. Stories of the Titanic never get old and new research to read about over 100 years later is always fun!
Want to read
May 23, 2016I love titanic
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 8, 2012
informative. :D
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews