Titanic: A Night Remembered

by Stephanie Barczewski

In a night of unforgettable tragedy, the Titanic, the world's largest liner on its maiden voyage, struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 11.40 p.m. on 14 April 1912 and sank at 2.20 a.m. the following morning. Over 1500 people died. Whose fault it was, and how the passengers and crew reacted, has been a subject of dispute ever since the first news of the disaster broke. Titanic: A Night Remembered, as well the story of the ship and its only voyage, is an account of ten of those who died: among them Titanic's captain Edward Smith and builder Thomas Andrews, John Jacob Astor, the richest man on board, and the bandmaster, Wallace Hartley, who played as the ship sank. Stephanie Barczewski traces their lives and careers and what brought all of them together on that fatal night. Many of those who died were treated as heroes (in contrast to men such as J. Bruce Ismay and Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon, who used their influence to get places in lifeboats). How these men and women were remembered in both Britain and America says much about contemporary values of manhood, heroism, chivalry and national pride. Titanic: A Night Remembered also sets the Titanic in the context of three ports: Belfast, where it was built; Southampton, which lost 600 citizens as members of its crew; and Queenstown in Ireland, its last port of call.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

382 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

A specialist in modern British history, Stephanie Barczewski is professor of history at Clemson University, where she has taught since 1996. Dr. Barczewski has been awarded the Gentry Award, Clemson's highest honor for teaching in the humanities, as well as a Faculty Award of Distinction for student mentoring from the Clemson National Scholars Program.

Reviews

[Katelyn Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Horrible book. And I never say that about a book. I very very very rarely ever rate a book less than 3 stars.
Maybe going into it my expectations were different than those who gave this book 5 stars. Idk.

The first chapter is about the tragedy. And it was a really good chapter!
The rest of the book is pretty much the “aftermath” of the tragedy.
It goes into specific people who played important roles in life and “death” of the Titanic, which was nice. But I picked up this book to read about the tragedy, not the history of Belfast and Southampton. I get the parts where it discusses the aftermath and how the populations from each city reacted to the disaster, but I didn’t pick this book up for a geography and history lesson.

I guess it just wasn’t really what I was looking for...

And as an English minor, I can’t help but notice the ridiculous amount of errors in grammar and typos. Did anyone even edit this??

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4 ½ stars.) Seeking a modern non-fiction account of the RMS Titanic tragedy, I found in this book a cradle-to-grave biography of the ship itself, with mini-bios of five men employed onboard, and of three of the four ports at which it docked before commencing its journey to the bottom. Barczewski demonstrates an incredible knowledge of British and Irish history, but I regret that there is no author information about her other than that she teaches at Clemson University, leaving me to wonder if she is an American well-studied in the Kingdom, or if she is from there and merely working in the US. Either way, she knows her stuff, and sometimes takes for granted that the reader knows the geography—I like maps!

The Titanic is dissected to reveal class inequities; not only looking at locked gates as she was going down, but also in the embarkations in Southampton and Queensland, and her construction amid political and religious strife in Belfast. Her story reveals fake news at its worst and most impartial. It also presents an uncomfortable look at the business of marketing and selling man-made catastrophe.

My complaints are minor enough not to detract from my overall assessment, but they are: 1) That the title too closely resembles Walter Lord’s popular 1955 account, “A Night to Remember”; 2) That there is no information to be found on the author herself; 3) That the book ended with a criticism of British treatment of Ireland, when until that point it had mostly come to the defense of both nations; 4) The city of Cherbourg is not given its share of pages like the other stops for the ship, and 5) Typical small editing defects.

Written in 2004 and referring frequently to the 1984 wreckage discovery and James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster film, this is one of the most current Titanic books available, and it offers an approach others probably don’t. I highly recommend it.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfectly good book about the Titanic and better than many because Ms. Barczewski is an intelligent and very good historian so she can look at the event and place it within a context. This is not one of those masturbatory fanzines obsessed with details of ships interior decor or having hot vapours over the first class passengers and their ugly fashions. But the problem with this book, and all the other Titanic books coming out now is that intelligent questions and intelligent examination of the event have come too late. All the people who had stories to tell are dead. The voices we would like to hear from third class passengers, ordinary crewmen, etc. are all dead and the chance to speak with them was lost because what interest the event attracted was centered on the grotesquely over privileged first class and the myth of all those gents behaving decently - and of course there were such men, but the fact remains that a first class male passenger had a better chance of surviving then third class women - or children.

So a good book but ultimately unsatisfying but that is not the authors fault.

[Anthony Sanabria · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book and the movie itself were both very good it felt like i was right back watching the movie when i was reading the book it was pretty good

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am apparently not as good at Goodreads as I thought and could not be bothered to go about putting photos in my review. However, I have photos from my visit to Ireland in 2010 and specifically of Cobh (or Queenstown as it was known in 1912) where Titanic last dropped anchor in my review on my book blog, take a look here ----> http://allthebookblognamesaretaken.bl...

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Actual Review:

I don't even know where to begin with this book and I am not sure how it has received such high ratings. There are so many things wrong with it, I don't even, just, wow. But here goes.

Firstly, throughout the entire book I wanted to say, "Look here lady, EVERYONE not living under a rock or in a barn knows about 'the James Cameron film, released in 1997'. She seriously said that every. single. time. Did she make money using his name every time? Little repetitive garbage like that drive me crazy. Every chapter, she made sure to remind us that James Cameron directed a little-known film about the disaster. SERIOUSLY.

I had just finished reading 'Unsinkable' the day before I began this one. That book was published in 1998, 6 years before this one. That is why it is curious to me that whole phrases seemed to be lifted straight out of 'Unsinkable'. Not direct quotes from survivors, but the phrasing from Butler/'Unsinkable'. It occurred mostly throughout the retelling of the sinking itself, prior to the author delving into specific mini-bios of the so-called 'heroes and villains' of the tragedy. It amazes me how this could be possible, but it happened enough times that I had to check the cover to make sure I hadn't grabbed 'Unsinkable' by mistake.

Throughout, the author seems to repeatedly overlook Chief Office Wilde and his apparent lack of ANY action that night. Survivors (both crew and passengers) recounted their memories of who was where, doing what, and when. Time and again, there are mentions of Captain Smith, Officer Murdoch, Officer Lightoller, Officer Lowe, and so on. But there is almost nothing as related to Chief Officer Wilde, SECOND IN COMMAND - except for those who recall seeing someone shoot themselves on the bridge not long before the ship went under. Some say that was actually Captain Smith, some even claimed it was Murdoch. I can not understand how the author can devote whole chapters to the mistakes of Smith and Murdoch, and not try to put together Wilde's course of action from the time the ship struck the iceberg to the time she went under. Here we have the officer who should have been the example for all the officers below him, loading boats, guiding passengers, etc., and he actually appears to be the least useful officer in the midst of the chaos. The author lambasts so many for their inaction and failures that night, but her silence on Wilde seems to absolve him of any responsibility in her eyes. At least, that is how it looks to me.

I appreciated the focus on some of the individual figures who were key players that night - incidentally, none of them survived. Phillips, Hartley, Andrews, Smith, and Murdoch. What I did not like, however, was the author asserting the fact time and again that what Phillips and Hartley did, the things that made them heroes in the eyes of the world, were irrelevant. She maintains that Phillips continued to send distress calls even though no ships besides the Carpathia were responding. She also completely ignores the position of the Californian and the fact that the ship was roughly 10 miles away; it makes sense to me that he would try to continue to reach ships that might be closer, ships that might be entering the wireless range. Additionally she claims that Phillips "prevented ice warnings from getting to the bridge". I am pretty sure that is a fairly serious accusation. In the same paragraph she says that Marconi operators are trained to deliver messages relating to the functioning of the ship - LIKE ICE WARNINGS - before dealing with the trite messages that passengers wanted to send to family and friends, bragging about their travel. So, which is it? Did he do his job or not? It would seem that he delivered the messages to the people who he was supposed to, can he be blamed if the officers didn't deliver them to the bridge? or was it the job of Phillips and Bride to give them directly to Captain Smith? That is not discussed. So, this whole aspect of the story is not told in full.

She treats Hartley accordingly, even going so far as to say that the band leader and fellow musicians contributed to more deaths but lulling people into a false sense of security. Seriously? Perhaps if more had been done to assist those in 3rd class trying to navigate the decks of the ship, more people would have been saved, as the lifeboats could have been filled. The musicians seem to me to be the last people to blame.

I don't see how Ismay can't shoulder a good portion of the blame. Complacency on the part of Captain Smith due to his many years at sea can account for a portion, but without a doubt Ismay had a heavy hand in it. But there were so many missteps that night on the part of many individuals who had the power of life and death at their fingertips - particularly those loading the boats - and some which occurred long before she had ever set sail. The most appalling fact will always remain that there were not enough lifeboats/seats for every passenger and crew member. How this was acceptable, how these regulations were done by some ridiculous calculation and not that actual number of people on board is baffling.

In addition to the above issues, I found the author to be contradictory. One example again involves Phillips and Bride. In an early chapter dedicated to Phillips, the author makes a statement regarding Bride and Phillips and that it was the 'last time Bride saw him alive'. Yet in Appendix I regarding which passengers escaped in which boats (sorry I'm not sorry, but this is so tacky), she clearly lists both Bride and Phillips being on Collapsible B. In parentheses she indicates Phillips possibly died on board. First of all, Collapsible B was never launched in the way all the other boats had been, as it fell from the roof of the officers' quarters upside down and unable to be righted. The men survived by sanding on top of it through the night. Some accounts I have read say that Phillips was alive but passed out and fell into the water at some point. Other accounts say that no one actually saw Phillips on Collapsible B. The author does not address these inconsistencies and makes herself look contradictory, first by the statement of Bride not seeing Phillips again, but then by placing them on the same lifeboats.

Another bothersome fact throughout was incorrect facts. Near the end the author refers to the Titanic being rammed into an iceberg by her British owners. Yet she clearly states elsewhere prior to this that JP Morgan's IMM owned White Star, and had since 1905. So, I guess that actually makes the owner AN AMERICAN. Little stuff like this just kept popping up and it was terribly distracting.

One thing I did appreciate is that the author took a look at three cities who all had connections to Titanic - Belfast, where she was built; Southampton, where so many of her crew came from; and Queenstown/Cobh (Cove), where she last left port. It is so heartbreaking to read of so many families in Southampton who lost fathers, sons, brothers, uncles. Unfortunately I have to be cautious in accepting the things the author says in these chapters, given the numerous other issues described above. I can't be sure what is factually correct or what she has left out in only telling the partial story. I especially liked that Cobh was addressed, as I was able to visit this beautiful city a few years ago with my mom (different trip than the Scotland one!) and see some of the sites. We were not able to visit Belfast due to time constraints in our schedule, but I am determined some day to see the dry docks and the place where she came into being. It is on my bucket list!

Finally, I feel like I need to address the author in regards to the "1997 James Cameron film". She presents it often as this British vs American battle, and I realize that it kind of what it became in 1912 in the aftermath of the disaster due to the inquiries. However, that is not how I viewed the movie. She specifically uses First Officer Murdoch as an example, saying he was not depicted in a positive manner. Both in real life (by survivor accounts) and in the movie, it became sheer chaos at the end when people realized all the boats were nearly gone. In the movie, it is clear (at least to me) that even though Cal gives Murdoch the money, he does not put much stock in it. And in real life it is unclear how many actually knew there were not enough boats, it is something I don't know any of the surviving officers ever commented on - particularly Lightoller, the highest ranking officer to survive. Then, when Murdoch shoots Tommy, it is clear it was an impulsive reactions after the crowd had become unruly. Otherwise, he was presented as doing his job fitfully - doing all he could as soon as the call came to the bridge that the iceberg had been spotted, to loading passengers. I never interpreted this and then Murdoch killing himself as 'British cowardice'. Having read so many books on the subject, I interpreted this scene in the movie as using the accounts of an office committing suicide. As I mentioned before, different accounts said it was Smith, Wilde, or Murdoch. Seeing as Wilde was pretty much absent from the movie, and Captain Smith was shown in the wheel room, that left Murdoch. Anyone who relies on non-fiction for their facts about events in history is likely to come to the same conclusion.

Anyway, over all this was not a good book and I was disappointed. There are many other things I could touch on; the Duff Gordons' poor choices and later treatment in the media, more on Ismay and Smith, what the band was playing when she sank. And I can't even talk about Thomas Andrews, it makes me too sad, as odd as I know that sounds. But I think this is enough. I really want this one to be good and was so looking forward to it, but when I read the SECOND LINE of the introduction (hardcover edition),

"Although I agree with those critics who faulted the film for its clumsy dialogue and hackneyed, melodramatic plotline, I also readily grasped the key to its overwhelming popularity."

It was a bad omen, here she is knocking the very movie that the 15 year old girl in me will love forever. I should have followed my gut and quit then. But I stuck with it because, despite not being 15 anymore, I still want to read anything and everything I can about this tragic event. In the end, it is not worth the time. Pass. There are better books about the Titanic.

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Initial reaction after finishing the book, posted 7/2/15.


Ridiculous. Utter rubbish at times. But it's rather late now and I'll have to write a more proper review tomorrow. But to make a long story short: contradictory, incorrect 'facts', and remarkably similar wording in the early going to another Titanic book I just finished. Boo to that especially.

[Sydney Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could not give this book 5 stars. Why? While the author gave good background and history on events, she is very bias in her opinions of American vs British and puts far too much detail into backgrounds of places that didn’t need that much detail.

But this book was good. I appreciated the biographies of various crew members, their upbringing, events of the Titanic, and the aftermath of their deaths.
The history of the ship itself and Harland and Wolff was good too.

If you don’t mind a preachy author who spends the introduction berating people, you’d like this book. The author did her research, that’s for sure.

Just don’t mention James Cameron or the 1997 film around her.

[Sean Vaughn McCormick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very thorough, but as a result, very boring. I’ve read many books about the Titanic: the ship, the disaster, the aftermath, the wreck site, etc. this one went a step further and told the reader more about certain passengers and locations associated with the ship. Titanic enthusiast I may be, this book had little to interest me that wasn’t conveyed better in other books. This book is not terrible by any means, and to anyone looking to read their first (of many) book about the ship, it would be interesting. People who already know a bit can give this one a pass.

[Shoshana · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who literally knows anything and everything bout this tragedy, I appreciated how this book focused less on the events of the sinking itself but on what happened after and the legacies left behind. I also liked how it highlighted specific people and locations involved with the ship.

[Laura Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author

[Cecily Kraft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a crazy story!🤍🥹😭

[Ghost of a Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished 9-6-23

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! It was really refreshing to read a more scholarly account of the Titanic. Barczewski covers a lot of historiographical shifts in the writings on Titanic. The second half of the book has chapters that are more like case studies. She looks at the changing personifications of the important figures in the disaster (the heroes versus the villains). Rather interestingly, she also studies the varied influence Titanic has had on the cities of Belfast, Cobh, and Southampton. I thought that was an enlightening distinction.

My favorite part of this book has to be where she talks about the way Titanic myth developed independently on either side of the Atlantic - whereas the Americans preferred to hear about the stories of heroism by individuals, the British were more keen to hear about the patriotic and selfless actions of the English crew.

In all this is a really great book about Titanic however I'm not sure how well the average person with only a mild interest in Titanic would enjoy it.

[Maggie]

I think there is something really fascinating about the Titanic for kids, I remember having a unit on the Titanic and it was really cool (we even got to visit the Science Center for the Titanic exhibit. The Titanic has so many lessons to be learned, from the culture and society of the early 1900s as well as engineering and the science behind its tragic end.

[mariah✰ · Rating 4 out of 5]

An analysis of the American and British responses to the tragedy - how the cultural differences of these two nations affected the narrative and the myths that rose up after the sinking. In-depth profiles into the main heroes and villains and how our attitudes towards those individuals have changed in the past century. Also a look at the cities involved and their current attempts at memorializing - or ignoring - their place in history.