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Titanic's Last Secrets: The Further Adventures of Shadow Divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler
After rewriting history with their discovery of a Nazi U-boat off the coast of New Jersey, legendary divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler decided to investigate the great enduring mystery of history's most notorious shipwreck: Why did Titanic sink as quickly as it did?
To answer the question, Chatterton and Kohler assemble a team of experts to explore Titanic, study its engineering, and dive to the wreck of its sister ship, Brittanic, where Titanic's last secrets may be revealed.
Titanic's Last Secrets is a rollercoaster ride through the shipbuilding history, the transatlantic luxury liner business, and shipwreck forensics. Chatterton and Kohler weave their way through a labyrinth of clues to discover that Titanic was not the strong, heroic ship the world thought she was and that the men who built her covered up her flaws when disaster struck. If Titanic had remained afloat for just two hours longer than she did, more than two thousand people would have lived instead of died, and the myth of the great ship would be one of rescue instead of tragedy.
Titanic's Last Secrets is the never-before-told story of the Ship of Dreams, a contemporary adventure that solves a historical mystery.
To answer the question, Chatterton and Kohler assemble a team of experts to explore Titanic, study its engineering, and dive to the wreck of its sister ship, Brittanic, where Titanic's last secrets may be revealed.
Titanic's Last Secrets is a rollercoaster ride through the shipbuilding history, the transatlantic luxury liner business, and shipwreck forensics. Chatterton and Kohler weave their way through a labyrinth of clues to discover that Titanic was not the strong, heroic ship the world thought she was and that the men who built her covered up her flaws when disaster struck. If Titanic had remained afloat for just two hours longer than she did, more than two thousand people would have lived instead of died, and the myth of the great ship would be one of rescue instead of tragedy.
Titanic's Last Secrets is the never-before-told story of the Ship of Dreams, a contemporary adventure that solves a historical mystery.
311 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
49 people are currently reading
1381 people want to read
About the author
Bradford Matsen
22 books22 followersBrad Matsen has been writing about wonders of the sea for forty years. He is the author of Jacques Cousteau: The Sea King; Descent: The Heroic Discovery of the Abyss, which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in 2006; the New York Times bestseller Titanic's Last Secrets; Planet Ocean: A Story of Life in the Sea; and Dancing to the Fossil Record with artist Ray Troll; the award-winning Incredible Ocean Adventure series for children; and many other books.
He was creative producer for the Shape of Life, an eight-hour National Geographic television series on evolutionary biology, and has written on marine science and the environment for Mother Jones, Audubon, Natural History, and many other magazines.
He was creative producer for the Shape of Life, an eight-hour National Geographic television series on evolutionary biology, and has written on marine science and the environment for Mother Jones, Audubon, Natural History, and many other magazines.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 180 reviews
March 11, 2015
The history itself was quite interesting, but I have to chalk this one up to misplaced expectations. "Shadow Divers" was one of my favorite books ever, largely in part due to the long and detailed explanations of the dangers faced by the divers as they explored the mysterious U-boat. Chatterton and Kohler are only a minor presence in this book, with the meat of the text given over to an undeniably fascinating account of the construction of the Olympic and the Titanic. The problem is that due to the title, I was hyped up for "the further adventures of the Shadow Divers" and I don't really feel like that was delivered.
Pick it up if you'd like an interesting historical account of the sinking of the Titanic. If you're looking for adventure writing in the tradition of Shadow Divers, I'm not sure that Last Secrets is your book.
Pick it up if you'd like an interesting historical account of the sinking of the Titanic. If you're looking for adventure writing in the tradition of Shadow Divers, I'm not sure that Last Secrets is your book.
June 6, 2017
An excellent book on the Titanic sinking and what actually caused it. I would recommend this one.
October 6, 2023
So this is exactly what the book jacket indicates of shipwreck forensics. It also highlights a lot of the history of the shipping lines and men and money who were behind them, however the liners came to be, the fateful night of thousands of passengers, and diving at the Britannica's site to see the differences in construction. Power, money, greed, ego, and two hours made the difference of life and death for ~2,000 people. Good narration.
April 27, 2017
I'll just say this: it all makes much more sense now, why she sank.
Favorite quotes: "Chatterton believed there were three kinds of history: what really happened; what most people think happened; and what people in power wanted future generations to think happened, which is 90 percent of the history in books."
"In Times Square, another mob shuffled around all night, waiting for handwritten bulletins from the newspapers on the fate of Titanic. Most of them knew no one on the unlucky ship. They were there because they sensed a primitive disturbance in the rhythms of life that allowed one day to follow another. The disappearance of a gigantic, unsinkable ocean liner and hundreds of innocent people threatened their belief that the world was essentially an orderly place. They had heard of the Johnstown flood that killed more than two thousand, and countless horrible war stories, but somehow this was worse. In the few short hours since the news broke, Titanic had captured the imaginations of millions of people, who were both fascinated and terrified by so outrageous a turn of fate."
Favorite quotes: "Chatterton believed there were three kinds of history: what really happened; what most people think happened; and what people in power wanted future generations to think happened, which is 90 percent of the history in books."
"In Times Square, another mob shuffled around all night, waiting for handwritten bulletins from the newspapers on the fate of Titanic. Most of them knew no one on the unlucky ship. They were there because they sensed a primitive disturbance in the rhythms of life that allowed one day to follow another. The disappearance of a gigantic, unsinkable ocean liner and hundreds of innocent people threatened their belief that the world was essentially an orderly place. They had heard of the Johnstown flood that killed more than two thousand, and countless horrible war stories, but somehow this was worse. In the few short hours since the news broke, Titanic had captured the imaginations of millions of people, who were both fascinated and terrified by so outrageous a turn of fate."
April 3, 2023
There are few times in history when the impossible happens, but when Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, the world witnessed the impossible. Its builders claimed it was “unsinkable”. As the saying goes “the bigger they are, the harder they fall” and that is probably what makes Titanic so fascinating.
In Titanic's Last Secrets: The Further Adventures of Shadow Divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, Bradford Matsen takes his readers through the history of the building of the Titanic and all the major players involved with it. It was all very interesting and a very well told history.
In the last part of the book, Bradford Matsen describes divers John Chatterton’s and Richie Kohler’s findings after their dive in a submarine to the Titanic wreck site along with their SCUBA dives to Titanic’s sister ship, Britannic. They both agreed in a theory by Roger Long of how Titanic broke up and sank that there were weaknesses at expansion joints and in the structure itself. Who knows exactly what happened, but this book puts forward some interesting, research-backed theories of how and why Titanic sank so quickly.
I found the receipt from when I purchased this book on March 24, 2015. 8 years later - I’m glad I finally read it. This is a great example that I need to keep reading the books I have! 😁
In Titanic's Last Secrets: The Further Adventures of Shadow Divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, Bradford Matsen takes his readers through the history of the building of the Titanic and all the major players involved with it. It was all very interesting and a very well told history.
In the last part of the book, Bradford Matsen describes divers John Chatterton’s and Richie Kohler’s findings after their dive in a submarine to the Titanic wreck site along with their SCUBA dives to Titanic’s sister ship, Britannic. They both agreed in a theory by Roger Long of how Titanic broke up and sank that there were weaknesses at expansion joints and in the structure itself. Who knows exactly what happened, but this book puts forward some interesting, research-backed theories of how and why Titanic sank so quickly.
I found the receipt from when I purchased this book on March 24, 2015. 8 years later - I’m glad I finally read it. This is a great example that I need to keep reading the books I have! 😁
November 21, 2021
Not going to lie, this was all new information to me and I have read a lot of books on the sinking of the Titanic. The evidence presented completely unraveled what I still believed to be the events that occurred the night the Titanic sank. The overall mystery of why she sank so fast had not really occurred to me simply because I felt that the sinking was rather prolonged as compared to other maritime disasters of the time such as the Empress of Ireland. No spoilers, just read the book if you want to know more about the reasons and what Chatterton and Kohler uncovered from their own dives to the ship, with the help of a very experienced team. The only thing I will say is that at one point in the book James Kameron refuses to believe the bullet proof evidence presented simply because he had already filmed the movie 'Titanic' and would not dispute his own research to reflect what really happened. Kind of loved that part.
November 19, 2008
Hi! My name is Sam and I am a Titaniac! This is ironic because I am terrified of large bodies of water (really anything bigger than a swimming pool) and I am a cruising addict (though I maintain a ridiculous distance from the railings pretty much relegating myself to bars and buffet lines!) but I digress. I am absolutely fascinated by the Titanic disaster. This book had the added appeal of being touted as the further adventures of Shadow Divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, scuba explorers from one of my favorite television shows Deep Sea Detectives and the book Shadow Divers, the story of WWII U-boat 869. I even splurged and bought it in hardcover because I couldn't stand to wait until it came out in paperback and our library didn't have it. All of that being said, it was only eh. The majority of the book is not about Chatterton and Kohler's expeditions to Titanic or their findings. It's primarily about the people who built the Titanic, the ship, shipyard and, of course, the sinking and its legal and financial aftermath. Which is always interesting to read about even if it is virtually the same story in every book. The theories and findings of Chatterton, Kohler and their crew make up only about 1/3 (maybe 1/4) of the book...and in the end, their findings are backed-up by surveying the sunken (younger sister ship) Britannic because they were unable to dive on Titanic again. I understand the logic of thinking that changes in a subsequent 'identical' ship would signify the builders knowing what the faults of Titanic were to cause her to sink, but in a way, I find the findings somewhat suspect because they've never been verified by diving on Titanic again or by confirmation or documentation from the builder. (Though I realize how the latter might have a liability issue there...)
Anyway, the book was well written and interesting, but not exactly what I was expecting.
Anyway, the book was well written and interesting, but not exactly what I was expecting.
December 4, 2017
It's hard to make the dramatic true story of the TITANIC boring, but in this book Matsen comes surprisingly close. The biggest problem, though, is that the arc of the divers' theories and discoveries about "what really happened in April, 1912" ultimately doesn't make sense. It's not that the arc is illogical, or poorly reasoned. It's that you can't tell whether it is.
This is because the descriptions of the various theories about the wreck, and the relative importance they carry are obscured and confusing. Less background about the personal lives of the shipyard owners, or the preparations for the inquests into the sinking would have shone more and brighter light on the purported subject of the book (see above: "what happened..." etc.).
As it is, there is a mish-mash of theory pasted over a flimsy framework of dramatic discovery, and in the end, no clarity in my mind about what we can now conclude from all this rehashing. Too bad.
This is because the descriptions of the various theories about the wreck, and the relative importance they carry are obscured and confusing. Less background about the personal lives of the shipyard owners, or the preparations for the inquests into the sinking would have shone more and brighter light on the purported subject of the book (see above: "what happened..." etc.).
As it is, there is a mish-mash of theory pasted over a flimsy framework of dramatic discovery, and in the end, no clarity in my mind about what we can now conclude from all this rehashing. Too bad.
November 6, 2008
This one is fascinating and hard to put down every night. Made me have to watch The Titanic again. Very good so far.
I recently saw the Titanic Exhibition in Las Vegas. If you get a chance to see it (now at the Luxor) do so - you won't be disappointed.
I recently saw the Titanic Exhibition in Las Vegas. If you get a chance to see it (now at the Luxor) do so - you won't be disappointed.
June 26, 2018
I was just going to skim this because I’d seen a documentary on the topic, but the writing was so compelling that I read it all.
NOTE: If you’re coming to this book looking for another _Shadow Divers_ experience you will be disappointed. This is a book predominantly about the construction of the White Star sister ships. The _Shadow Divers_ guys basically have a cameo appearance, with a Mir submersible dive at the beginning and a SCUBA dive in the last 10% of the book to verify the theory they arrived at with data from the Mir dive.
NOTE: If you’re coming to this book looking for another _Shadow Divers_ experience you will be disappointed. This is a book predominantly about the construction of the White Star sister ships. The _Shadow Divers_ guys basically have a cameo appearance, with a Mir submersible dive at the beginning and a SCUBA dive in the last 10% of the book to verify the theory they arrived at with data from the Mir dive.
November 27, 2012
In August of 2005, 93 years after Titanic had sunk and become the worlds biggest ship disaster – a discovery about the ship is revealed. A team that had been diving found previously undiscovered wreckage of the ship that led to the conclusion that Titanic’s bow had not rose up in the air as the famous movie scene dictated – but instead had broken in half while the ship was horizontal.
How is it that all these years later that this could be true? With all the eye witnesses from the life boats, how was this one fact told incorrectly or pushed so far from what really happened?
I have always been fascinated with all things Titanic. The tragedy is monumental and to this day I struggle wrapping my heard around the sheer magnetism of the senseless loss of life. I have read many books on the subject feeling almost as though I had put myself on the ship, trying to escape Titanic and hoping for another outcome…. when I seen this audio I knew I had to listen to it.
What Brad Matsens research for this book covers is why the Titanic sunk so quickly, when in all rights it should have been fine to float until the rescue boats came… instead, the time between the iceberg hitting the boat and the sinking of this great ship was two hours and forty minutes. That’s enough to give my chills. What is pointed out in this telling is that the Titanic and in fact other large ships like her, were not built sound enough – too large for the building skills of the time.
The book while starting out in modern-day, travels back to the original building of the ship from the three famous men who were the creation and ultimately the fate of Titanic, Lord Pirrie, Bruce Ismay, and Thomas Andrews, all through the discussion of the lifeboats and how ugly they were on the ship so really why not cut them to the bare minimum?
You also get a retelling of what happened that night and perhaps most interesting for me, what happened in the days and weeks after the ship sank as far as the trials and the holding of the ships crewman who survived for questioning.
Those of you who are interested in Titanic like me will find this an informative and thought-provoking read – a definite addition to my Titanic resources.
How is it that all these years later that this could be true? With all the eye witnesses from the life boats, how was this one fact told incorrectly or pushed so far from what really happened?
I have always been fascinated with all things Titanic. The tragedy is monumental and to this day I struggle wrapping my heard around the sheer magnetism of the senseless loss of life. I have read many books on the subject feeling almost as though I had put myself on the ship, trying to escape Titanic and hoping for another outcome…. when I seen this audio I knew I had to listen to it.
What Brad Matsens research for this book covers is why the Titanic sunk so quickly, when in all rights it should have been fine to float until the rescue boats came… instead, the time between the iceberg hitting the boat and the sinking of this great ship was two hours and forty minutes. That’s enough to give my chills. What is pointed out in this telling is that the Titanic and in fact other large ships like her, were not built sound enough – too large for the building skills of the time.
The book while starting out in modern-day, travels back to the original building of the ship from the three famous men who were the creation and ultimately the fate of Titanic, Lord Pirrie, Bruce Ismay, and Thomas Andrews, all through the discussion of the lifeboats and how ugly they were on the ship so really why not cut them to the bare minimum?
You also get a retelling of what happened that night and perhaps most interesting for me, what happened in the days and weeks after the ship sank as far as the trials and the holding of the ships crewman who survived for questioning.
Those of you who are interested in Titanic like me will find this an informative and thought-provoking read – a definite addition to my Titanic resources.
April 8, 2014
This was a really good book, but if you're interested in something akin to Shadow Divers you may be disappointed. There were maybe 4 dives described in the entire book, and 2 were by sub, not scuba.
What this book does do very well is delve into the history of the Titanic. It covers it from conception to sinking in a way that other Titanic books haven't done. I thought it was a great read, full of interesting Titanic information (especially about the builders), but was not a diving book like Shadow Divers.
What this book does do very well is delve into the history of the Titanic. It covers it from conception to sinking in a way that other Titanic books haven't done. I thought it was a great read, full of interesting Titanic information (especially about the builders), but was not a diving book like Shadow Divers.
April 1, 2012
What astounding information there is!!! Such a tragedy that so many had to die and the cover-ups there were to keep the true gulity from being prosecuted back then. Wonderful book with information on the building and the structure of the titanic along with the hearings, and cover-ups that were found so many years later.
June 23, 2017
An interesting read and an interesting take/hypothesis on the Titanic sinking. Unfortunately, discussion of how the theory was received by the community and/or rebuttals is pretty much absent, making it difficult to fully accept the conclusion.
February 3, 2016
Very interesting read.
January 29, 2020
Titanic's Last Secrets by Brad Matsen is an interesting audio book. It is listed as the Further Adventures of Shadow Divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler. These gentlemen are some of the divers who explore sunken ships like the Titanic.
What I really enjoyed about the book was not only hearing about their adventures as they explored the wreckage, but hearing about the history of Titanic and the builders/owners. Things I don't remember hearing about before.
You went to the discussions about building the ship, including the current requirements for life boats, to the crew. From passengers to survivors, to how to solve problems noted on the shake down cruise of her sister ship, Olympic.
I was curious to hear about events that I didn't remember hearing about before and about the Congressional hearing that took place after the wreck.
The story ended up with the two divers visiting the wreckage of the third sister ship- Britannic. She sank duing the First World War after hitting a mine left by a German submarine. The divers were looking for some particular information which they thought would help them determine the actual cause of the sinking of the Titanic.
While their conclusions seem very logical and may in fact be the actual cause or at least a contribution to the sinking, we can never know for sure. It's been over 100 years and the ocean does a great job of claiming ship wrecks. For me, I think they may have found some answers.
What I really enjoyed about the book was not only hearing about their adventures as they explored the wreckage, but hearing about the history of Titanic and the builders/owners. Things I don't remember hearing about before.
You went to the discussions about building the ship, including the current requirements for life boats, to the crew. From passengers to survivors, to how to solve problems noted on the shake down cruise of her sister ship, Olympic.
I was curious to hear about events that I didn't remember hearing about before and about the Congressional hearing that took place after the wreck.
The story ended up with the two divers visiting the wreckage of the third sister ship- Britannic. She sank duing the First World War after hitting a mine left by a German submarine. The divers were looking for some particular information which they thought would help them determine the actual cause of the sinking of the Titanic.
While their conclusions seem very logical and may in fact be the actual cause or at least a contribution to the sinking, we can never know for sure. It's been over 100 years and the ocean does a great job of claiming ship wrecks. For me, I think they may have found some answers.
May 16, 2018
The core of this book is about the ship building history of Harland and Wolff and the 3 sister "ic" ships of White Star Lines (Titanic, Olympic, and Britannic). The author goes into great detail on how the 3 liners were constructed and the background behind their design. There is a lot of information on William James Pirrie, the man behind Titanic. The subtitle is somewhat misleading as Chatterton and Kohler are an underlying subplot of this book - their "adventures" being mentioned in the first few chapters and towards the end. As I read through the middle of the book, I almost forgot they were part of it. Still, though this book is a great read if you want to know more about the history of Titanic's construction. The actual events of the April 15 sinking are just touched on here. The Titanic's hull construction is at the heart of the discussion and how the ship might have been able to stay afloat long enough for Carpathia to rescue everyone. Could it be that Titanic was never seaworthy to begin with? Read this book and find out some of the newer theories as to why this ship sank so quickly.
August 16, 2020
Another great read on the sinking of the Titanic.
The entire story comes about as a result of a recent dive to the wreckage of the Titanic and the Britannic by two professional divers based on a hunch they had and the evidence they found at the wreckage sites which confirmed their theory. A well researched author covers the history of the White Star Line, the backstories of the captain and crew and those who had direct connections with this ship. He also briefly touches on the conspiracy theories floating around and why those do not hold water.
The story is totally engaging and makes me want to read more and more about the sinking of the Titanic.
I also liked this narrator, Henry Layva, much better than the woman who narrated Ship of Dreams: The Sinking of the Titanic and the End of the Edwardian Era even though that book was just as enthralling as this one.
If you are fascinated by the sinking of the Titanic as much as I am, or perhaps you are curious to find out what they found among the wreckage of the Titanic and her sister ship which compelled them to write this book, I recommend you add this to your collection of informative reads.
The entire story comes about as a result of a recent dive to the wreckage of the Titanic and the Britannic by two professional divers based on a hunch they had and the evidence they found at the wreckage sites which confirmed their theory. A well researched author covers the history of the White Star Line, the backstories of the captain and crew and those who had direct connections with this ship. He also briefly touches on the conspiracy theories floating around and why those do not hold water.
The story is totally engaging and makes me want to read more and more about the sinking of the Titanic.
I also liked this narrator, Henry Layva, much better than the woman who narrated Ship of Dreams: The Sinking of the Titanic and the End of the Edwardian Era even though that book was just as enthralling as this one.
If you are fascinated by the sinking of the Titanic as much as I am, or perhaps you are curious to find out what they found among the wreckage of the Titanic and her sister ship which compelled them to write this book, I recommend you add this to your collection of informative reads.
February 15, 2019
An excellent review of the true cause of not only the sinking of the “unsinkable” Titanic, but the root cause of many recent catastrophes and deaths. “Titanic had not been a heroic ship. It had been a deeply flawed testament to hubris and greed that killed 1,504 passengers and crew” and the eight construction team members. Have things changed? Two NASA space shuttles exploded with the lost of 14 lives. BP’s Deep Water Horizon explosion killed eleven contractors. BP’s Texas City Refinery explosion killed 15 contractors. 5,147 employees were killed in the US in 2017. To better understand some of the true root causes of the above deaths, sadly much can be learned from our failure to learn from history.
September 7, 2021
I enjoyed this book a lot as it highlights the cover-up that was engaged in by the ship building company that built the three sisters of "Olympic", "Titanic", and "Britannic".
While I do admit that the first part is hard to get through due to just a slog of info prefacing the facts, I do enjoy the format that they used which was heavily researched as you can tell by the bibliography in the ending notes.
I also enjoys the parts that describe what was happening in the present when they dove on Britannic to confirm a theory about the ship builder Thomas Anderson's fixes to the Titanic and the footage was almost completely lost due to the Grecian police trying to confiscate it.
All in all, a good book, but kinda depressing.
While I do admit that the first part is hard to get through due to just a slog of info prefacing the facts, I do enjoy the format that they used which was heavily researched as you can tell by the bibliography in the ending notes.
I also enjoys the parts that describe what was happening in the present when they dove on Britannic to confirm a theory about the ship builder Thomas Anderson's fixes to the Titanic and the footage was almost completely lost due to the Grecian police trying to confiscate it.
All in all, a good book, but kinda depressing.
July 28, 2017
The story of the short lived Titanic is utterly fascinating, and full of mystery and speculation especially regarding it's incredibly fast sinking after it's collition with an Iceberg. This book not only proposes a theory to explain the accelerated sinking of Titanic (which oppose the one depicted in the blockbuster movie by James Cameron), it also relates in great detail the historical context of it's construction, and that of it's twin sisters Olympic and Britannic as well as relating the exiting divings and explorations in deep water made by several adventurers, to find clues to solve the mystery of the great tragedy that ammounted to more than 1500 lives lost.
March 16, 2021
The best book on the Titanic that I've read. The author has made this book as mesmerizing as a book whose ending is unknown. The background of the building of the sister ships, Olympic and Titanic, is an eye-opener of keel building, weight of the steel used and 'panting' of the hull. The trip to the bottom in self contained immercibles takes a whole new look at the bottom of Titanic bottom side UP. The trio of Brad Matsen, the author and 'Shadow Divers' Chatterton and Kohler has resulted in a Trinity of seafaring, locating and studying shipwrecks and new fodder for folks who are mesmerized by the tragedy of the sinking of the Titanic. Highly recommended.
June 6, 2021
I was not previously familiar with the Shadow Divers so luckily I had no preconceptions about what kind of book to expect going into it. I thoroughly enjoyed best the middle section of the book, wherein it described William Pirrie, Bruce Ismay, Thomas Andrews and William Alden Smith in a very narrative fashion. It humanized these men in a way I've rarely seen.
Because I had no knowledge of the Shadow Divers, it was harder to be invested in their story at first but that was remedied. If you're not familiar with them and/or are not interested in a lot of technical aspects of ships or diving, you might have a harder time getting through the beginning and ending, especially.
Because I had no knowledge of the Shadow Divers, it was harder to be invested in their story at first but that was remedied. If you're not familiar with them and/or are not interested in a lot of technical aspects of ships or diving, you might have a harder time getting through the beginning and ending, especially.
February 12, 2019
This is the best book to read about this ship. Good biographies on Ismay and such, deeply disappointed about Dr. Ballard though telling the other explorers to forget about the Titanic. This ship is the start of the gilded age, many poor souls were lost in April 14 1912. It is now a mariners graveyard that should be not disturbed, though the relics are in museums around the world.
It has taught man that safety first, and not sped and luxury. In which they added those later two first back than.
It has taught man that safety first, and not sped and luxury. In which they added those later two first back than.
November 6, 2017
A fascinating account that brings to light, finally, the real reason why Titanic sank so fast after its collision with an iceberg in 1912. Everything you thought you knew about the Titanic tragedy will change after reading this extremely interesting yet disturbing book that runs the gamut from poor design to a coverup by Harland & Wolff, the ships builders. What happened the night Titanic sank was far worse than anyone has ever realized.
April 19, 2022
I throughly enjoyed reading this book. It had background of the people involved in building and designing the Titanic, it had amazing dialogue with the team of divers and their expertise. It asks the questions about why this unsinkable ship sank in less than 3 hours. It has pictures and more. I enjoyed the epilogue and the cover up at the end. It would be nice to have the passengers list. All in all a great quick read.
June 6, 2017
This was a quick read that has opened up a great deal of curiosity for further research.
The information is presented showing methodology and reasoning.
Details and background of the key people in the Titanic's construction sound like the same greedy power mongers the world is dealing with to this day.
I'm glad sources were listed, it offers further material to peruse.
The information is presented showing methodology and reasoning.
Details and background of the key people in the Titanic's construction sound like the same greedy power mongers the world is dealing with to this day.
I'm glad sources were listed, it offers further material to peruse.
June 30, 2018
A fascinating and thorough account
This book gets highly technical, but the narrative is very exciting. It is a bit boring at parts going into the backstory of the ship builders, but that lends a lot of meaningful context to the decisions behind the project. Fascinating all the way through.
This book gets highly technical, but the narrative is very exciting. It is a bit boring at parts going into the backstory of the ship builders, but that lends a lot of meaningful context to the decisions behind the project. Fascinating all the way through.
February 4, 2019
This is the best forensic analysis of the Titanic that I have read in a long time. It talks about the owner of the shipyards where it was built, the creation, the sister ships, the disaster and all the events after. This was unputdownable book just because the content and explanations were so raw and emotional, and this is nonfiction too!
August 29, 2019
I was hoping this book would be about the dives and any discoveries with a bit of historical context. It was disappointing to find that the book was mostly a history of the ship book-ended by short stories of the dives. It was still interesting, but I felt that the portion I was interested in and expected the book to be about could have been covered in an article instead.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 180 reviews