Ghost Liners

by Robert D. Ballard, Rick Archbold, Ken Marschall

Ghost Liners: Exploring the world's greatest lost ships. Titanic, Lusitania, Britannic, Empress of Ireland and Andrea Doria...... size 8.5" X 11"

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Historical, Childrens, Maritime, Picture Books

64 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1997

About the author

Robert Duane Ballard (born June 30, 1942 in Wichita, Kansas) is a former commander in the United States Navy and an oceanographer who is most noted for his work in underwater archaeology. He is most famous for the discoveries of the wrecks of the RMS Titanic in 1985, the battleship Bismarck in 1989, and the wreck of the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown in 1998. Most recently he discovered the wreck of John F. Kennedy's PT-109 in 2003 and visited the Solomon Islander natives who saved its crew. Ballard is also great-grandson of American Old West lawman Bat Masterson.

from wikipedia.org

see also
http://literati.net/Ballard/
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/fie...
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/pa...

Reviews

[GoldGato · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are shipwrecks, and then there are shipwrecks. Ballard takes us on a journey via his submersible adventures to see the current resting places of the Titanic, the Lusitania, the Empress Of Ireland, the Andrea Doria, and others. Created for both younger and older readers, it is still fascinating to read about the sinkings while looking at the photos and illustrations.

Until the advent of cheaper jet travel, taking an ocean liner was the most convenient way to cross oceans, either as an immigrant in third-class steerage or as a vacation. The ships in this book are mainly from the great era of ocean liners, up through the early 1960s of the twentieth century. A mere tip of the iceberg (excuse the pun).

How does one handle adversity when a seemingly comfortable day suddenly means possible death in (mostly) cold seas? How did the people travelling on those great liners act? How many actually had any chance whatsoever? The story of the little girl who went to sleep on the Andrea Doria only to wake up on the bow of the shattered Stockholm (which had rammed the other ship)...fate is fickle.

Book Season = Year Round (treasure your time)

[Marceline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember getting this as a birthday present when I was 9 or 10 and falling in love with Ocean Liners. The pictures and personal stories included always interested me and left me with a lifelong love of the Titanic. It was heartbreaking to lose this book a few years later and I ended up repurchasing it recently only to fall for the book all over again.

The book itself is a short read, the detail of the pictures is exquisite. My only complaint is that the book wasn't longer.

If you're passionate about the Titanic or similar ships, this is a definite must to add to your collection.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my oddball traits: one of my biggest fears is drowning, and yet I am fascinated by the Titanic. It's sinking, its discovery, all of it. So I pulled this from the shelf because Titanic's picture was on the cover. The book proceeded to talk of a few other liners histories as well as the Titanic's. And all liners had been explored by the author of the book. each one was a tragic tale in its own right, and the pictures and drawings were quite haunting. And yet I was still fascinated by it all! I think my favorite thing was the author's last bit about how all of these accidents came about because of mankind's faith and pride in machines instead of in people. In that, I would up it one more by saying faith in God. One reason I have always loved the Titanic story was because to me it looked like an immediate lesson to the people who said that even God could not sink the ship. Never believe that man is more powerful in God--who made man and who helped man build machines.

[Carol Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ballard doesn't just give us the dry history of the ships- when they were built, what happened to make them sink. He makes us see the ships in their glory, know what it felt like in the last minutes of the wreck, and shows us eerie underwater photos of what remains. Some of the stories of rescues and losses are touching, and for each ship Ballard gives us a personal story.

Great middle school non-fiction.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

My sister got this book at one of those elementary school book fairs, and between the two of us, we must have read this book hundreds of times. Ballard made these Ghost Ships come alive with pictures and stories of young guests aboard the Lusitania, Titanic, Andrea Doria, and more. It remains one of my all time favorites to this day.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up in a house of books.

Books were everywhere, and it was a bloody brilliant way to grow-up for a mini bibliophile.

Besides reading my books, my most favorite thing to do was organize them. Just thinking about the hours spent organizing and reorganizing my parents myriads of books (mine as well, of course) feels me with delight. (Yes, just thinking about organizing books makes me happy.)

I love order. I love it when things are in order. With books, it meant I liked putting them in order and reading them in order. I mean, when I was a tot, I would look at the back of one of my Berenstain Bear books and read them in the order they were pictured. (They were all organized that way as well.)

From all that ordering and organizing I knew my parents' collection inside and out. My mom had lots of sets of books that that were parts of a series, but the books weren't connected. She had this one set of tall, junior non books about historical disasters.

I freaking loved those books. And when I read one, I had to read them all, because, you know, order. (Yes, I know this is why I'm difficult to live with.) So I read them all the time and they became a part of my psyche. Probably a good reason why I love history so much.

My mom is a school teacher and since her kids are all grown up she often takes batches of our childhood books to put in her class library. (I already had to rescue my Babysitter's Club books from this terrible fate - though none of the kids read them anymore, so I'm sure they would've been fine.)

One day I was in classroom and I noticed with a horror of all horrors that she had taken my most beloved historical disaster books (that I had forgotten about) to school. I swiftly retrieved them and brought them home so I could look at them.

As you've probably guessed from that incredibly long prelude, this is one of those books. It's so good. Just as good as I remember. This one is written by the dude that found the sunken Titanic in the 80s and he writes about finding the ships of other famous disasters. Since the last time I read these books I was probably 12, it was like reading them for the first time and it was so fascinating!

I had no idea about Empress of Ireland, that lost over a 1000 people. It sunk in 14 minutes! That is crazy scary for those poor passengers.

The story about Linda Morgan on the Andrea Doria in remarkable. A ship rammed the Andrea Doria and just happened to his her family's cabin. The deck of the other ship basically scooped up Linda from her bed and she woke up on the deck completely confused. She was wounded but recovered. Sadly, her stepfather and sister were not as lucky.

History is so tragic and engrossing. Ballard did a great job bringing these "ghost ships" to life again. It's cool he wrote the book, because he's actually explored all the shipwrecks.

Hearing about these "unsinkable" ships is just a reminder that anything can happen at any moment. You have to be living your best life because you never know what tomorrow brings.

I can't wait to read my other favorite childhood books!!

[Lconnors · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book takes place after the events happen in the book. Also the time line is different in each part of the book. This book talks about five different ships that sank in the past 100 years or less. The main character my not be a character but he is the Author and the one who found these ships with his team. Also if you like treasure and exploring books you would like this book.

[Deb Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read about the Titanic and Lusitania in the past, but this book gives personal stories that I hadn't read. In addition, it tells about the Andrea Doria and Empress of Ireland and others. These are ships I wasn't familiar with, but now want to learn more about. I also plan to read more by Robert Ballard.

[Kristen Fort]

One of my favorite books to read about ship disasters when I was younger, fueled by the Titanic obsession of the late 90s. Searched for the title upon finishing Erik Larson's Dead Wake. This book covered five ships: the Titanic, the Empress of Ireland, the Lusitania, the Britannic, and the Andrea Doria.

[Michele Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful photos!

[Hamza Gamaleldin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Because it tells the story of 5 different ships that sunk and it's written by Robert Ballard
the man who found the wrecks of the German Battleship Bismark, RMS Titanic and Lusitania

[Tina Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book about some of the most famous list ships and the lives affected by them and when.you add Ken Marshalls paintings it is a poignant reminder of those lost and saved

[Mellanie C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cool.

[Peter G · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick read, but a thoughtful examination of Ballard’s exploration of the lost liners of the North Atlantic.

[K.M. Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know it's for kids but I love ocean liners and their tragic tales!

[Dayna Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ballard discovered the wreck of the Titanic and takes us on a tour of the Titanic, the Empress of Ireland, the Lusitania, the Britannic, and the Andrea Doria. This book is filled with pictures and paintings of the ships. Ballard also gives a brief history of each ship, the circumstances surrounding its sinking, and the condition in which it was found. A wonderful treat in non-fiction for younger readers.

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was in middle school I went through a ship/shipwreck phase and this book happened to be in the school library. I found it tragic yet fascinating, so many things could have been done differently and could have brought about a lot of different out comes. It's mind blowing to think of the what ifs.

[Saralyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was haunting in that it seemed that all of the disasters could have been avoided. So many lives lost for nothing. But it was very interesting. I had never heard of several of the ships.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A glossy historical glimpse into of some of the world’s most famous shipwrecks, this is a shortie, a little taste of the passion of(Titanic) illustrator Ken Marshall with Rick Archbold.

[Mustang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it because it told lots of information on sunken ships.It told about the way the ships sunk.

[Gato Arias · Rating 5 out of 5]

tells me about the titanic, britanic, lusitania, and the andredoria

[Michael Heath-Caldwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting look at Ocean Liners including the Lusitania

[Ashwise · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book detailing the exploration of some of the world's greatest shipwrecks. I love his personal stance on salvagin and preservation of these ghosts of a bygone era.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Children's version of an adult volume, informative and interesting.

[Rene Reyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has great facts and stories.

[Misbah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting facts about all the ships that have gone missing over the years, a lot of them more so than even the Titanic.