Titanic: A Survivor s Story

by Archibald Gracie, John B. Thayer

Two survivors' accounts of the sinking of the Titanic. The information contained in Colonel Gracie's story is available from no other source. He provides details of the final moments, including names of passengers pulled from the ocean and of those men who, in a panic, jumped into lifeboats as they were being lowered. Walter Lord, author of A Night to Remember, calls Gracie "an indefatigable detective." John Thayer was, like Gracie, one of the last to leave the ship. His account, The Sinking of the S.S. Titanic, is meticulously detailed. The sinking of the Titanic was, in his eyes, a symbol of the end of the world that he knew, and the beginning of a frightening new era.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Historical, Memoir, Biography

365 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2005

About the author

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibal...

Reviews

[Lindsay Heller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating and reviewing this book is sort of difficult. It was an incredibly interesting and very detailed first hand account of the most famous maritime disaster in history, but at times it seemed a bit... too detailed.

The first part of Colonel Archibald Gracie's portion of this book read almost like a novel. He told his experience, splashing in details he learned later. Then he rewound and accounted for the experience of every single lifeboat, often times from many different accounts. I don't doubt that this information is invaluable to history and I commend Gracie for taking the initiative, in the few short months he had to live after the disaster, to collect all these stories from so many different perspectives. But, to read it flat out is a bit dry. Gracie was a military man. He wrote books about is experiences besides this one, so he was clearly no stranger to words, but his style is informative. I took this slow, reading it over about a month. This is the only real way I can imagine reading this torrent of information. But if you're interested in the Titanic this really is an invaluable resource.

The second portion of this edition, I dare not say half as it takes up only about forty pages, is written by John B. Thayer who was seventeen at the time of the sinking. Both he and Gracie survived by clinging to the overturned collapsible lifeboat B. Thayer's account is really far more compelling to me, it's told relatively linearly and only includes his experience of things. He also does not shy from his opinion that the ship broke in two (a fact we now know to be correct) before plunging below the waters despite the insistence from the crew and decision of the inquiries that it did not.

Gracie died of illness relating to his night of exposure awaiting rescue from the Carpathia on December 4th, 1912 so his account was written very soon after his rescue. Thayer's account was not published until about 1940. Take from that what you will. Both these tales are extraordinary. I'd recommend them to anyone, but perhaps only in small doses.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book includes two eyewitness accounts of the sinking of the Titanic. The first is a highly researched account by Colonel Archibald Gracie who survived the night on top of an overturned lifeboat with several other men. The second account by John B. Thayer is much shorter but no less interesting. Thayer is the son of a railroad tycoon who went down with the ship. I've read several books about the Titanic to find that nothing compares with eyewitness accounts. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about the Titanic. An eye-opening and intriguing read! :)

[Daniel Mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

If this was just Colonel Gracie's story, this would have been a three star review. The first three quarters of the book are written by Colonel Archibald Gracie and it is a firsthand account of the tragedy. He helped several people get to safety and also helped the crew when possible and BOY DOES HE LET YOU KNOW IT! He talks about his own quick thinking and how great his physical conditioning is and so on amd so forth. He actually makes it hard to tell what is going on. About halfway through, he changes pace and goes on a rigorous description of what happened on each and every lifeboat from multiple perspectives. It is a very dry couple hundred pages. Once his story is over, Jack Thayer's brief story begins. Thayer tells a much better story and the emotions actually start to hit home. You can get a real sense of how this disaster affected him. As a lifelong Titanic enthusiast, I felt a duty to read this book but for someone with a casual interest, this may be too dry of a read.

[Suzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two detailed accounts from survivors of the Titanic sinking. The colonel's story was completed soon after the sinking,while Thayer's account came later. Each story is a product of it's time. Racism is blatant in the accounts. It is helpful to know first-hand how the real people thought about the world in such an honest way. Archibald Gracie's account is systematic in listing what he knows and has researched. The Colonel goes through each lifeboat, lists the occupants he knows of and has a discussion about what is known from the people in said boat. The colonel also gives his own personal story of survival. Thayer' account is limited to his own story but he is highly detailed and personal. It was interesting to hear about the days leading up to the sinking and the time afterwards. If you're interested in learning more about "Titanic" I would recommend this book.

[Sharon]

Colonel Archibald Gracie gave in great detail his memories of his experience during the sinking of the Titanic. And, John B. Thayer gave a short story about his experience.

Gracie's account included very detailed information about who was in each life boat and it also included some of the passenger's testimony of what they saw. There was a lot of information given.

I thought the book was very interesting, and it was clearly written to try to help family members of people who were lost during the sinking. So, even though it was very detailed, I was ok with it because if I would have had a family member or ancestor who had died on the ship, I would have enjoyed knowing a little bit more about what my family member could have been doing. It does give a very good account of the whole tragedy.

[Wade Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first experience with eyewitness testimony of the sinking of Titanic. Very interesting, especially to hear people insist on things that history has since proven true (such as that the ship didn't break in half). Almost got me a little riled at times!

Reading this so many years after the disaster, and all the other books I've read and documentaries I've seen on Titanic, you have to take the accounts with a grain of salt. Also found myself wanting the depictions in James Cameron's 1997 film to be my baseline for accuracy, when even he admits 25 years later that new research suggests the ship didn't sink quite the way he portrayed. It's cool to pick up on the little pieces of testimony and stories that made it into the film, though.

[Jennifer Irons · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really two separate accounts of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 by two of the survivors of the sinking, Colonel Archibald Gracie and John B. Thayer. Both men give excellent descriptions of what happened that night and how they both managed to survive to tell the tale. Colonel Gracie even gives descriptions of each of the lifeboats that were lowered, most lowered with less than full capacity. John B. Thayer and his mother both survived the Titanic disaster but his father John Borland Thayer, sadly, did not. I highly recommend this book for any and all Titanic enthusiasts.

[Charlotte Bird · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gracie's determination to report every known fact about the sinking, down to the very second, is incredibly admirable. I learned so much about the sinking, especially in regards to the lifeboats. He painstakingly recounts every known minute of each lifeboat, having collected testimony from anything he could get his hands on as well as from individuals known to him at the time, and of course his own account of the sinking itself. A wonderful source of information on the sinking, and one that every Titanic enthusiast should read!

[Austinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that Colonel Archibald Gracie began with his personal experiences and how he survived and what he had thought throughout, but later told of other survivors experiences by which boat they were in and how each persons perspective could be different and similar in such an event. He showed true emotion throughout.
The snippet featuring Mr. Thayers point of view 28 years later adds to what Gracie spoke by bringing in another personal experience.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it

[Sharon Zink · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was written to give information, not to keep readers wondering what happens next. Informative and necessary, no doubt.

[Heidi T · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars because it’s some family heritage

[Barry Vann · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Entertaining and Factual Account of Titanic's Sinking

I have read numerous books on the Titanic, but the accounts by Archibald Gracie and John Thayer Jr contained in this book are the most profoundly insightful. These two men went down with the ship and lived to tell about it. Thayer even described how the Titanic broke in two, which was a debated topic until Ballard's mission to the wreck in 1986 confirmed it.

[Samantha Glasser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Colonel Archibald Gracie was on board the Titanic when it sank. He was one of the lucky men who was able to cling to a capsized lifeboat for survival. He details his account of the crossing, both before and after the iceburg. He mentions many people he spoke to on the voyage, hoping to bring comfort to any families whose loved ones he encountered who did not survive. This book seems to have been a form of therapy for Gracie and he hoped it would help to answer questions about the sinking.

The language is definitely dated but it is very readable and easy to understand. It is an excellent resource for specific information; Gracie examines each lifeboat individually with passengers' names (except 3rd class), and relays incidents from each compiled from the testimony from those in each boat. He uses official documents like the court trial, making the book very credible.

Also included is a short account from John Thayer from the 1940s. He was only 17 when the ship sank and he lost his father of the same name in the tragedy. Thayer was another man clinging to the lifeboat that saved Gracie's life. His testimony reinforces many of the things Gracie writes.

[Jessie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The last 30 pages by author #2 was much better than the whole rest of the book. Too many court transcripts.

[Nicole Heddings · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been fascinated by the sinking of the Titanic for as long as I can remember and this book armed me with loads of details that I never knew before. However, Gracie's personal account included some pretty gross racism. If you're interested in reading this survivor's story, beware of the blatant racism that is sprinkled throughout (e.g., thanking God for his Anglo-Saxon race that "gave this perfect and superb exhibition at this hour of severest trial.").

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book consists of two survivors accounts. The first is by Colonel Archibald Gracie, entitled Titanic: A Survivor's Story, the second is by John B. Thayer, entitled The Sinking of the S.S. Titanic. It is a great book, and definitely worth reading if you are interested in the Titanic. Received this as a gift from my aunt last year, but I read this when I was about 12 years old.

[Linore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating account of events from a survivor; I read the Kindle edition which I advise you to avoid. It was full of typos and some entire pages that were unreadable. Otherwise, well worth the read. I read this book primarily for research purposes, and it fit the bill.

[AmyLyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting review of the Titanic's fated night. Extremely thorough, though with an obvious bias to the upper-class that he comes from, it mostly reinforced what I already knew, although there were a few surprises. What a terrible tragedy that was.

[Martin Turnbull · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although somewhat repetitive in the second half and a little formally written (in 1912 by a colonel so we can’t blame him for that), this was quite an interesting view of that fateful night written by one of the last living survivors still on the Titanic when it went down.

[Maura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good read. The writing has held up in my opinion. Mr. Gracie was not quite a man when the ship went down but in the end he became a real one. His depiction of the last moments of Titanic still stay in my mind.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Colonel Gracie's story of surviving combined with testimonies of other Titanic survivors was interesting but hard to read. Very technical and repetitive.

Mr. Thayer's account was interesting, not so technical, so much easier to read.

[Nichole · Rating 3 out of 5]

loved it, it was told what really happen

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

First person accounts - chilling reminders.

[Norma Bush · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting account, written within months of the sinking.

[Marissa Sherman Deziel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was informative but hard to get through seeing that the second half of the book were accounts from passengers who survived as well as court proceedings and affidavits.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very thorough and vivid account of the sinking from two men who were saved from the overturned collapsible boat “B.” However, a CW: Both were first class passengers, and Gracie in particular (taking up much more of the book with his account as well as a detailed representation of what he was able to gather from other witnesses and testimonies before he died within the year of complications from exposure) embodies the racism of the time by repeatedly thanking Providence for his “Anglo-Saxon” ability to keep his head in moments of crisis, as well as repeating stories from other witness accounts where (particularly male) steerage passengers are treated more like rabid animals than men trying to save their own lives along with everyone else.