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Lost Voices From the Titanic: The Definitive Oral History
This is the story of the world’s most infamous ship, told in the words of those who designed her, built her, sailed her and survived her sinking.
Starting from its original conception and design by the owners and naval architects at the White Star Line through construction at Harland and Wolff’s shipyards in Belfast, Nick Barratt explores the pre-history of the Titanic. He examines the aspirations of the owners, the realities of construction and the anticipation of the first sea-tests, revealing that the seeds of disaster were sown by the failure to implement sealed bulkheads.
Barratt then looks at the Titanic’s maiden voyage in April 1912, examining the lives of various passengers in more detail, from the first-class aristocrats to the families in third-class and steerage. Similarly, the stories of representatives from the White Star Line who were on board, as well as crew members, are told in their own words to offer a very different perspective on the voyage.
Finally, the book examines the disaster itself when Titanic struck the iceberg and sank hours later. Survivors from passengers and crew recount what happened, taking us back in time to the full horror of that freezing Atlantic night when up to 1,520 people perished.
Starting from its original conception and design by the owners and naval architects at the White Star Line through construction at Harland and Wolff’s shipyards in Belfast, Nick Barratt explores the pre-history of the Titanic. He examines the aspirations of the owners, the realities of construction and the anticipation of the first sea-tests, revealing that the seeds of disaster were sown by the failure to implement sealed bulkheads.
Barratt then looks at the Titanic’s maiden voyage in April 1912, examining the lives of various passengers in more detail, from the first-class aristocrats to the families in third-class and steerage. Similarly, the stories of representatives from the White Star Line who were on board, as well as crew members, are told in their own words to offer a very different perspective on the voyage.
Finally, the book examines the disaster itself when Titanic struck the iceberg and sank hours later. Survivors from passengers and crew recount what happened, taking us back in time to the full horror of that freezing Atlantic night when up to 1,520 people perished.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
October 5, 2020
Lost voices from the Titanic is a detailed collection of all the events behind the tragic night of the 14th of April 1912.
The first part of the book is dedicated to the history of the White Star Line steamship company, on their desire to create the biggest and fastest ship ever built. It narrates also how the days proceeded on board, from the departure to the awful night, when the ship hit the iceberg. The second part instead give us an idea on how the US and British government tried to investigate what happened on board and what could be done differently going forward to avoid such a tragic event to happen again. And it then end with the details on how the survivors managed to go on with their lives.
I found this book extremely interesting, I’ve learned so much from it and I definitely recommend it to the history’s lovers!
I did struggle initially when the author when into the details on how the boat was built and explored the technicalities, but from the second part onwards I just couldn’t stop reading to all the letters of the survivors: their hope and desire for a better future in NY and how all that got lost with many other lives the night that the ship sunk.
The first part of the book is dedicated to the history of the White Star Line steamship company, on their desire to create the biggest and fastest ship ever built. It narrates also how the days proceeded on board, from the departure to the awful night, when the ship hit the iceberg. The second part instead give us an idea on how the US and British government tried to investigate what happened on board and what could be done differently going forward to avoid such a tragic event to happen again. And it then end with the details on how the survivors managed to go on with their lives.
I found this book extremely interesting, I’ve learned so much from it and I definitely recommend it to the history’s lovers!
I did struggle initially when the author when into the details on how the boat was built and explored the technicalities, but from the second part onwards I just couldn’t stop reading to all the letters of the survivors: their hope and desire for a better future in NY and how all that got lost with many other lives the night that the ship sunk.
May 16, 2011
Honestly, everyone gets so involved in the movie ‘history’ that they don’t bother to read anything else, or other people get it wrong. But reading the actual statements from survivors is outstanding.
Things I learned:
◊ Everything about what Captain Smith was doing is questionable. Some crew say he pressed the ship on at almost full speed and ignored ice warnings. Some say he told everyone to be extra vigilant and to slow down. After they hit the iceberg, some passengers say they saw Smith swan dive into the water, but most people say he stayed on the boat until the end, and after he was in the water, some saw him helping passengers into life boats. I don’t know what to think, but I don’t think it’s fair that he turned into a scapegoat because he did die, and he couldn’t defend himself.
◊ Bruce Ismay isn’t the villain that everyone wants him to be. And maybe this is just me after reading his official statement. But he wasn’t on that ship in any official capacity. He assisted in getting women and children off of the ship. The officers called for more women and children and none came forward. TIME TO GO THEN. Especially with the boat clearly having enough room. It’d be different if he was shoving people out of the way but he wasn’t. And he – out of his own pocket – paid death benefits to the family of the man who worked for him and died. As far as I’m concerned, he didn’t deserve near the amount of grief he got.
◊ It’s really shocking to know that when crew started blaming White Star for not putting enough lifeboats on the ship being the reason for so many deaths, suddenly they weren’t called to testify at the official inquiry. Go figure. It wasn’t even until that went public that it was included in the testimonies. I don’t know why I’m so shocked, exactly? Except that it was a crucial and vital fact that the going to be omitted.
◊ And speaking of lifeboats, crew members threatening to kill men getting onto boats before women and children, and then those boats going down half empty for no good reason while the men were supposed to accept their deaths ‘honorably’ has me fuming. I understand not pulling a cheap move and pushing a woman aside, but the accounts of the men standing over the railing, watching as lifeboats not even full go down with their wives and kids on board. My God.
◊ The ships that passed by the wreckage after and described the floating bodies in the water, of people clinging to each other. That got to me. A woman fully dressed clutching her dog, a woman holding her baby to her chest... I can’t imagine that, or the sounds survivors described hearing. Also sad to know that there was an entire lifeboat that was never picked up, and the men eventually died of exposure and/or starvation. When they were examined, they'd been eating their life vests before they died.
◊ I never thought about what happened after. I mean, the story in the movie goes from Rose getting to New York to old lady Rose. But think about it: Most of these women lost their husbands and had small children and now everything they had was on the bottom of the ocean. Jesus, you get to America and you’re destitute. And there was no REAL assistance. White Star shelled out a little but not enough. That’s so sad. I mean, think about now and the telethons and foundations we have.
◊ There were no safety drills with the crew prior to the launch. Only half-done run throughs of what to do in case of an emergency. Crew members testified that they had no clue what lifeboats they were even supposed to be assigned to – something that’s posted at launch.
◊ The Californian which was the closest ship to Titanic - could in fact see her lights – didn’t come to the rescue because their captain went to bed and the second in command was too lazy even after the S.O.S. rockets were fired. So in the morning they head over. What the heck. They were less than ten miles away. That’s all. I have a lot of anger surrounding that fact. The only thing they have in their defense is that their wireless was down so they didn't hear the S.O.S. call.
Things I learned:
◊ Everything about what Captain Smith was doing is questionable. Some crew say he pressed the ship on at almost full speed and ignored ice warnings. Some say he told everyone to be extra vigilant and to slow down. After they hit the iceberg, some passengers say they saw Smith swan dive into the water, but most people say he stayed on the boat until the end, and after he was in the water, some saw him helping passengers into life boats. I don’t know what to think, but I don’t think it’s fair that he turned into a scapegoat because he did die, and he couldn’t defend himself.
◊ Bruce Ismay isn’t the villain that everyone wants him to be. And maybe this is just me after reading his official statement. But he wasn’t on that ship in any official capacity. He assisted in getting women and children off of the ship. The officers called for more women and children and none came forward. TIME TO GO THEN. Especially with the boat clearly having enough room. It’d be different if he was shoving people out of the way but he wasn’t. And he – out of his own pocket – paid death benefits to the family of the man who worked for him and died. As far as I’m concerned, he didn’t deserve near the amount of grief he got.
◊ It’s really shocking to know that when crew started blaming White Star for not putting enough lifeboats on the ship being the reason for so many deaths, suddenly they weren’t called to testify at the official inquiry. Go figure. It wasn’t even until that went public that it was included in the testimonies. I don’t know why I’m so shocked, exactly? Except that it was a crucial and vital fact that the going to be omitted.
◊ And speaking of lifeboats, crew members threatening to kill men getting onto boats before women and children, and then those boats going down half empty for no good reason while the men were supposed to accept their deaths ‘honorably’ has me fuming. I understand not pulling a cheap move and pushing a woman aside, but the accounts of the men standing over the railing, watching as lifeboats not even full go down with their wives and kids on board. My God.
◊ The ships that passed by the wreckage after and described the floating bodies in the water, of people clinging to each other. That got to me. A woman fully dressed clutching her dog, a woman holding her baby to her chest... I can’t imagine that, or the sounds survivors described hearing. Also sad to know that there was an entire lifeboat that was never picked up, and the men eventually died of exposure and/or starvation. When they were examined, they'd been eating their life vests before they died.
◊ I never thought about what happened after. I mean, the story in the movie goes from Rose getting to New York to old lady Rose. But think about it: Most of these women lost their husbands and had small children and now everything they had was on the bottom of the ocean. Jesus, you get to America and you’re destitute. And there was no REAL assistance. White Star shelled out a little but not enough. That’s so sad. I mean, think about now and the telethons and foundations we have.
◊ There were no safety drills with the crew prior to the launch. Only half-done run throughs of what to do in case of an emergency. Crew members testified that they had no clue what lifeboats they were even supposed to be assigned to – something that’s posted at launch.
◊ The Californian which was the closest ship to Titanic - could in fact see her lights – didn’t come to the rescue because their captain went to bed and the second in command was too lazy even after the S.O.S. rockets were fired. So in the morning they head over. What the heck. They were less than ten miles away. That’s all. I have a lot of anger surrounding that fact. The only thing they have in their defense is that their wireless was down so they didn't hear the S.O.S. call.
March 7, 2010
He didn't check his facts very well. That picture of Captain Smith and (supposedly) Titanic's other officers is actually Captain Smith and the officers of another ship he was Captain for, I THINK it was the Olympic. Other than him, there was only one other name that was on both ships, all the other names should have been different. And he claimed none of the children in first or second class died but Helen Lorraine Alison died because her nurse (who had her baby brother Trevor, both survived because she got into a boat with him) got separated from her parents who refused to leave the ship until they found Trevor. I found the part about Helen Alison dying on Encyclopedia Titanica, which he named at least once, so why didn't he know about it?
May 29, 2018
I’ve been intrigued by the Titanic for years; in high school, before I’d even heard of James Cameron or Leonardo DiCaprio, I had read both of Walter Lord’s 1950s investigative books on the tragedy at sea and followed Ballard’s deep-sea exploration with fascination. This book didn’t tell me much of anything new about the voyage or the night of the sinking, but I appreciated the fact that the author presented information strictly from survivors with no creative liberties and without perpetuating baseless rumors. I did find new appreciation for the liner itself from accounts from the shipyard where Titanic was built, and though nothing written can convey the deep emotions connected to this tragedy, the chapters detailing aftermath of the sinking had some sobering insights. I want to give this book four stars, but by the nature of it being strictly factual, it isn’t as readable as some other books I’ve read on the subject, so while I appreciate the author sticking to the truth without embellishment, it was a little dry to get through at times.
January 13, 2010
A well reserched account of the Titanic story brought to life by the letters and voice recordings of not just those people who built the ship, but those who sailed on it and survived its sinking. Added to these voices are those of the people who searched for the survivors and the victims.
This is book is not just for the Titanic enthusiasts but also for those who enjoy reading about historical peiods of time and the lives of people who lived during them, from the "working class" to the "upper class" of society.
This is book is not just for the Titanic enthusiasts but also for those who enjoy reading about historical peiods of time and the lives of people who lived during them, from the "working class" to the "upper class" of society.
April 21, 2024
Must interesting was the possibility that a few people might have survived on an ice floe and died of starvation. The California assumed the figures were seals and did not go investigate. Bodies found later had cork in their mouths like eating something to stay alive.
September 8, 2025
I wanted to like this book. From the book jacket it appeared to be told almost entirely through the eyes of the builders, passengers and crew of the ship. But I should've guessed it wasn't when the preface was written like a university dissertation and it went downhill from there. Instead of just letting the stories tell themselves he starts off the chapters on the voyage with a timeline of events which takes away from being engaged in the story. The beginning reminded me of The Only Way to Cross when John Maxtone Graham went on for pages about Lusitania and her engines and what made her so fast except Graham was more engaging.
The author also seems to look at the 1997 movie with disdain which to me gave him an air of superiority. That the people who watched and enjoyed that movie only did so because they loved Leo and and were all too dumb to realize it was a fictional story set on a real boat. That the movie painted a false picture of what happened that night claiming it showed panic from the moment the iceberg hit. I've watched the 1997 movie several times as well as A Night to Remember and Titanic 1953 several times and out of those three the 1953 movie was the only bad one of the bunch with that stupid siren going off right up til the end. Also I would argue that the 1997 movie introduced a lot of younger people to the disaster and some brilliant people learned about it, such as Mike Brady from Ocean Liner Designs who has an excellent YouTube channel about Titanic and many other ships. Also the movie had fictional characters because its a movie and not a documentary. When I went to watch it back in December 1997 if they had used only real people I wouldn't have been as engaged in the story because I'd know oh he dies, she lives and marries that guy. With fictional characters you knew Rose lived but not how and it was even a question if Jack survived and Cal, Tommy, Fabrizio and the others. It's annoying that people feel the need to crap all over the 97 movie. It did well at the box office and sparked a love of history in so many young people and as a lover of history myself I love that. Sorry for the rant. Back to the book.
There are letters and articles and excerpts from the inquiries once you get past the pointless timelines that could've been appendices at the end of the book and there's nothing new here. Although labeled as the definitive oral history it really wasn't. Everything is put there and in fact it's borrowed from other books. Most of the letters came from Walter Lord so you'd be better off reading his book as he put it all together in an engaging way. So while the book was mildly interesting the author himself was off putting for me. I'm not a big fan of his writing style, the research was also off. On one page it says White Star liner Lucania was beaten by Lusitania for the blue ribband only for the next page to say as I suspected Lucania was a Cunard liner. White Star ends in ic and Cunard ia as anyone with a tiny bit of knowledge would know. A chart he uses says all 1st class children survived when Lorraine Allison just a toddler was lost due to the family nurse taking the baby and them being separated and searching until it was too late. So not my favourite Titanic book. It was nice to hear from those to help build her though and I do enjoy getting stories from the crew as they often get forgotten too often, even those who died in the disaster which was a nice touch, but I couldn't get past the bad research and what I perceived as the author's superior attitude.
The author also seems to look at the 1997 movie with disdain which to me gave him an air of superiority. That the people who watched and enjoyed that movie only did so because they loved Leo and and were all too dumb to realize it was a fictional story set on a real boat. That the movie painted a false picture of what happened that night claiming it showed panic from the moment the iceberg hit. I've watched the 1997 movie several times as well as A Night to Remember and Titanic 1953 several times and out of those three the 1953 movie was the only bad one of the bunch with that stupid siren going off right up til the end. Also I would argue that the 1997 movie introduced a lot of younger people to the disaster and some brilliant people learned about it, such as Mike Brady from Ocean Liner Designs who has an excellent YouTube channel about Titanic and many other ships. Also the movie had fictional characters because its a movie and not a documentary. When I went to watch it back in December 1997 if they had used only real people I wouldn't have been as engaged in the story because I'd know oh he dies, she lives and marries that guy. With fictional characters you knew Rose lived but not how and it was even a question if Jack survived and Cal, Tommy, Fabrizio and the others. It's annoying that people feel the need to crap all over the 97 movie. It did well at the box office and sparked a love of history in so many young people and as a lover of history myself I love that. Sorry for the rant. Back to the book.
There are letters and articles and excerpts from the inquiries once you get past the pointless timelines that could've been appendices at the end of the book and there's nothing new here. Although labeled as the definitive oral history it really wasn't. Everything is put there and in fact it's borrowed from other books. Most of the letters came from Walter Lord so you'd be better off reading his book as he put it all together in an engaging way. So while the book was mildly interesting the author himself was off putting for me. I'm not a big fan of his writing style, the research was also off. On one page it says White Star liner Lucania was beaten by Lusitania for the blue ribband only for the next page to say as I suspected Lucania was a Cunard liner. White Star ends in ic and Cunard ia as anyone with a tiny bit of knowledge would know. A chart he uses says all 1st class children survived when Lorraine Allison just a toddler was lost due to the family nurse taking the baby and them being separated and searching until it was too late. So not my favourite Titanic book. It was nice to hear from those to help build her though and I do enjoy getting stories from the crew as they often get forgotten too often, even those who died in the disaster which was a nice touch, but I couldn't get past the bad research and what I perceived as the author's superior attitude.
September 1, 2026
Lost Voices from the Titanic — Nick Barratt
★★★★☆
I thought I knew quite a lot about the Titanic before reading this, but it turns out there was so much I didn’t know.
This is an incredibly detailed book that follows Titanic from its conception and construction right through to the sinking, inquiries and aftermath. I particularly loved that so much of the story is told through letters, newspaper reports, inquiry transcripts and firsthand accounts. Those were easily my favourite parts, and there are stories from survivors that I don’t think I’ll ever forget.
Some of the earlier sections around the construction and technical details were a little too data-heavy for me. There was so much information packed into those chapters that I honestly couldn’t retain a lot of it, and it made parts of the book quite slow going.
But once it moved into the voyage, sinking and particularly the personal accounts, I was completely invested. It challenged quite a few things I thought I knew about Titanic and gave me a much better understanding of not only what happened that night, but everything that happened afterwards.
A fascinating and incredibly well-researched account, but definitely a dense read.
★★★★☆
──────────────
SPOILERS BELOW
──────────────
Obviously, Titanic sinks. I feel ridiculous putting a spoiler warning on a 114-year-old historical event 😂 but there are firsthand accounts and details in this book that I wouldn’t have wanted to know before reading them.
The biggest thing I took away from this was that Titanic wasn’t brought down by one stupid decision. It was a whole chain of decisions, outdated regulations, assumptions, missed opportunities and failures in preparation.
The lifeboats made me particularly angry. Alexander Carlisle had recommended 48 lifeboats with room for around 3,120 people. Titanic sailed with 20. And the worst part is that this was completely legal because she actually carried more lifeboat capacity than regulations required.
That’s something I kept coming back to while reading: legal doesn’t necessarily mean right. If you know there aren’t enough lifeboats for everyone aboard your ship, being able to say you complied with legislation doesn’t feel like much of a defence.
Then you discover that even the limited lifeboat capacity they did have wasn’t fully used. One boat capable of holding around 65 people left with 28. Another left with 12. Of the 712 people ultimately rescued, it’s estimated only around 652 actually left Titanic in the boats — an average of roughly 36 people per boat.
There was also testimony from a third-class survivor who said their main stairway was closed. He only managed to reach the upper decks because a Swedish girl knew about an emergency staircase. The main doors were eventually opened, but according to him it wasn’t until those passengers were being given a chance to escape in the final desperate moments.
One of the most devastating lines came shortly afterwards:
“I saw a Swedish couple and their five children kiss each other goodbye and then all jump overboard.”
There were so many tiny human stories like that.
A man named Alfred Wicklund helped his childhood friend put on a life belt and then told him he was going back downstairs because he’d rather die in his bed. Another account described people saying goodbye and arranging for whichever man survived to care for the other’s family.
Lawrence Beesley’s description of being in one of the lifeboats probably affected me most. They had rowed away from Titanic because they were frightened of being pulled down with her. They couldn’t properly see what was happening aboard and didn’t understand how many people hadn’t escaped.
After Titanic disappeared, there was silence.
Then came the screams and cries of the enormous number of people suddenly in the freezing water.
It hadn’t occurred to me before that some of the people sitting in those partially empty lifeboats didn’t actually comprehend how many people were going to die until they heard them.
The aftermath was just as awful.
One account describes passing bodies close enough to distinguish their clothing. Among them was a woman in her nightdress with her baby still clasped against her breast. Another woman was holding a large shaggy dog. There were men still clinging together and others holding onto a steamer chair. Further away, white life preservers could be seen scattered across the water.
Only 333 bodies were ever recovered. Many of the dead were never returned to their families, and even the recovery became affected by class. With limited supplies for preserving bodies, first-class passengers were more likely to be embalmed and returned to shore while crew and third-class victims were disproportionately buried at sea.
That was another recurring theme throughout this book: class mattered before Titanic sank, while it was sinking and even after people were dead.
I was also surprised by how much my opinion of J. Bruce Ismay became more complicated. There are absolutely questions around White Star Line and the decisions made before Titanic sailed, particularly the lifeboats. But the popular story of Ismay simply being a coward who saved himself while women and children were left behind isn’t really supported by the testimony presented here.
Witnesses said there were no women or children waiting when he entered his lifeboat and there were still empty places when it left. Lightoller later described Ismay as almost impossible to rouse aboard Carpathia, completely fixated on the fact that women had died while he had survived and repeatedly saying that he should have gone down with the ship.
At the same time, Ismay insisted he had exercised no authority over Titanic’s navigation or speed, while other testimony gave a different impression of just how much authority he appeared to carry aboard the ship. I finished the book feeling that there probably isn’t a simple answer with Ismay. His corporate responsibility, his influence aboard Titanic and his personal decision to get into that lifeboat are three separate things.
And then there’s the Californian. That whole section was incredibly frustrating. Its officers could see a ship and saw rockets being fired, yet its wireless operator wasn’t woken to check what was happening. He had communicated with Titanic earlier that very night. Knowing that one radio call could potentially have revealed what was happening is difficult to comprehend.
Something else I found fascinating was the language in the original accounts. Women screaming, fainting or crying were repeatedly described as “hysterical”, while men facing the exact same unimaginable situation were praised for being stoic, dignified or “manly”. There were even accounts where men’s decisions to take their own lives were spoken about in terms of masculine dignity.
I don’t think hiding your emotions makes you inherently stronger. If you’re watching people die, waiting to discover whether your entire family has died, or facing your own death, I think you’re entitled to scream, cry, faint or be absolutely terrified.
Ultimately, one of the most significant things to come from Titanic was the recognition that the legislation itself had failed. Lifeboat requirements changed, crews needed proper training and drills, wireless procedures improved, and there were recommendations that passengers should know before an emergency which lifeboat they were assigned to and how to reach it.
Titanic didn’t just expose failures aboard one ship. It exposed failures in the entire system that was supposed to keep passengers safe.
And I think that’s what I’ll remember most from this book. Titanic didn’t end when the ship disappeared beneath the water at 2:20 am. It continued through the bodies drifting in the Atlantic, families waiting for survivor lists, people arriving in a new country having lost everything they owned, the inquiries, the survivors who carried it for the rest of their lives, and the safety changes that followed.
I knew how the story ended before I opened the book.
I just didn’t realise how many stories existed inside it.
★★★★☆
I thought I knew quite a lot about the Titanic before reading this, but it turns out there was so much I didn’t know.
This is an incredibly detailed book that follows Titanic from its conception and construction right through to the sinking, inquiries and aftermath. I particularly loved that so much of the story is told through letters, newspaper reports, inquiry transcripts and firsthand accounts. Those were easily my favourite parts, and there are stories from survivors that I don’t think I’ll ever forget.
Some of the earlier sections around the construction and technical details were a little too data-heavy for me. There was so much information packed into those chapters that I honestly couldn’t retain a lot of it, and it made parts of the book quite slow going.
But once it moved into the voyage, sinking and particularly the personal accounts, I was completely invested. It challenged quite a few things I thought I knew about Titanic and gave me a much better understanding of not only what happened that night, but everything that happened afterwards.
A fascinating and incredibly well-researched account, but definitely a dense read.
★★★★☆
──────────────
SPOILERS BELOW
──────────────
Obviously, Titanic sinks. I feel ridiculous putting a spoiler warning on a 114-year-old historical event 😂 but there are firsthand accounts and details in this book that I wouldn’t have wanted to know before reading them.
The biggest thing I took away from this was that Titanic wasn’t brought down by one stupid decision. It was a whole chain of decisions, outdated regulations, assumptions, missed opportunities and failures in preparation.
The lifeboats made me particularly angry. Alexander Carlisle had recommended 48 lifeboats with room for around 3,120 people. Titanic sailed with 20. And the worst part is that this was completely legal because she actually carried more lifeboat capacity than regulations required.
That’s something I kept coming back to while reading: legal doesn’t necessarily mean right. If you know there aren’t enough lifeboats for everyone aboard your ship, being able to say you complied with legislation doesn’t feel like much of a defence.
Then you discover that even the limited lifeboat capacity they did have wasn’t fully used. One boat capable of holding around 65 people left with 28. Another left with 12. Of the 712 people ultimately rescued, it’s estimated only around 652 actually left Titanic in the boats — an average of roughly 36 people per boat.
There was also testimony from a third-class survivor who said their main stairway was closed. He only managed to reach the upper decks because a Swedish girl knew about an emergency staircase. The main doors were eventually opened, but according to him it wasn’t until those passengers were being given a chance to escape in the final desperate moments.
One of the most devastating lines came shortly afterwards:
“I saw a Swedish couple and their five children kiss each other goodbye and then all jump overboard.”
There were so many tiny human stories like that.
A man named Alfred Wicklund helped his childhood friend put on a life belt and then told him he was going back downstairs because he’d rather die in his bed. Another account described people saying goodbye and arranging for whichever man survived to care for the other’s family.
Lawrence Beesley’s description of being in one of the lifeboats probably affected me most. They had rowed away from Titanic because they were frightened of being pulled down with her. They couldn’t properly see what was happening aboard and didn’t understand how many people hadn’t escaped.
After Titanic disappeared, there was silence.
Then came the screams and cries of the enormous number of people suddenly in the freezing water.
It hadn’t occurred to me before that some of the people sitting in those partially empty lifeboats didn’t actually comprehend how many people were going to die until they heard them.
The aftermath was just as awful.
One account describes passing bodies close enough to distinguish their clothing. Among them was a woman in her nightdress with her baby still clasped against her breast. Another woman was holding a large shaggy dog. There were men still clinging together and others holding onto a steamer chair. Further away, white life preservers could be seen scattered across the water.
Only 333 bodies were ever recovered. Many of the dead were never returned to their families, and even the recovery became affected by class. With limited supplies for preserving bodies, first-class passengers were more likely to be embalmed and returned to shore while crew and third-class victims were disproportionately buried at sea.
That was another recurring theme throughout this book: class mattered before Titanic sank, while it was sinking and even after people were dead.
I was also surprised by how much my opinion of J. Bruce Ismay became more complicated. There are absolutely questions around White Star Line and the decisions made before Titanic sailed, particularly the lifeboats. But the popular story of Ismay simply being a coward who saved himself while women and children were left behind isn’t really supported by the testimony presented here.
Witnesses said there were no women or children waiting when he entered his lifeboat and there were still empty places when it left. Lightoller later described Ismay as almost impossible to rouse aboard Carpathia, completely fixated on the fact that women had died while he had survived and repeatedly saying that he should have gone down with the ship.
At the same time, Ismay insisted he had exercised no authority over Titanic’s navigation or speed, while other testimony gave a different impression of just how much authority he appeared to carry aboard the ship. I finished the book feeling that there probably isn’t a simple answer with Ismay. His corporate responsibility, his influence aboard Titanic and his personal decision to get into that lifeboat are three separate things.
And then there’s the Californian. That whole section was incredibly frustrating. Its officers could see a ship and saw rockets being fired, yet its wireless operator wasn’t woken to check what was happening. He had communicated with Titanic earlier that very night. Knowing that one radio call could potentially have revealed what was happening is difficult to comprehend.
Something else I found fascinating was the language in the original accounts. Women screaming, fainting or crying were repeatedly described as “hysterical”, while men facing the exact same unimaginable situation were praised for being stoic, dignified or “manly”. There were even accounts where men’s decisions to take their own lives were spoken about in terms of masculine dignity.
I don’t think hiding your emotions makes you inherently stronger. If you’re watching people die, waiting to discover whether your entire family has died, or facing your own death, I think you’re entitled to scream, cry, faint or be absolutely terrified.
Ultimately, one of the most significant things to come from Titanic was the recognition that the legislation itself had failed. Lifeboat requirements changed, crews needed proper training and drills, wireless procedures improved, and there were recommendations that passengers should know before an emergency which lifeboat they were assigned to and how to reach it.
Titanic didn’t just expose failures aboard one ship. It exposed failures in the entire system that was supposed to keep passengers safe.
And I think that’s what I’ll remember most from this book. Titanic didn’t end when the ship disappeared beneath the water at 2:20 am. It continued through the bodies drifting in the Atlantic, families waiting for survivor lists, people arriving in a new country having lost everything they owned, the inquiries, the survivors who carried it for the rest of their lives, and the safety changes that followed.
I knew how the story ended before I opened the book.
I just didn’t realise how many stories existed inside it.
November 5, 2010
I consider myself a Titanic enthusiast. Even before the movie came out when I was 14, there was something about the ill-fated ship that fascinated me. I think it is the irony behind it, as well as putting it into perspective. Times were so different in 1912. 1912 was still a year before my grandfather's birth in 1913. He has been gone for 7 years, and died at the age of 90. Living in the age of technology, the possibility of not being rescued in this situation is almost foreign to me. If this tragedy happened today, video of the sinking would be posted on YouTube before the ship disappeared from the surface.
Of all the Titanic literature I've read, all the documentaries and fictional recreations I've seen, this book was by far the most moving. It is a collection of letters and newspaper articles from survivors and families of survivors. The primary research in this book is exquisite and really personalizes the sinking and aftermath in a way that I've never seen before.
I thought I would never be able to learn more information about the Titanic unless new information was discovered (which it was in 2005!). But I learned something new from this book, something that gives me chills thinking about it. There were 4 collapsible lifeboats in addition to the sturdy wooden ones. After the Carpathia picked up all of the lifeboats and emptied them of persons and property, they set the collapsible boat adrift. Some time later (cant remember if it was 2 weeks or a month) another ship travelling along the Titanic's route picked up the collapsible lifeboat, with 3 dead bodies. This means that 3 individuals survived the sinking and were not rescued, but found their way to the drifting lifeboat only to die later of starvation and exposure. Additionally, the Californian, which may or may not share some of the blame for the loss of life (its debateable), claims to have seen "figures" moving on an iceblock. Instead of checking it out, they brushed it off as seals and went on their way.
Titanic will be gone in a few years. Erosion and repeated visits to the wreck are causing damage in a way that soon the entire structure will collapse and be nothing more than a footprint on the ocean floor. Thankfully there are Titanic enthusiasts out there with far more resources and ambition than myself to dig up as many details as possible of the real story before it is gone forever.
Of all the Titanic literature I've read, all the documentaries and fictional recreations I've seen, this book was by far the most moving. It is a collection of letters and newspaper articles from survivors and families of survivors. The primary research in this book is exquisite and really personalizes the sinking and aftermath in a way that I've never seen before.
I thought I would never be able to learn more information about the Titanic unless new information was discovered (which it was in 2005!). But I learned something new from this book, something that gives me chills thinking about it. There were 4 collapsible lifeboats in addition to the sturdy wooden ones. After the Carpathia picked up all of the lifeboats and emptied them of persons and property, they set the collapsible boat adrift. Some time later (cant remember if it was 2 weeks or a month) another ship travelling along the Titanic's route picked up the collapsible lifeboat, with 3 dead bodies. This means that 3 individuals survived the sinking and were not rescued, but found their way to the drifting lifeboat only to die later of starvation and exposure. Additionally, the Californian, which may or may not share some of the blame for the loss of life (its debateable), claims to have seen "figures" moving on an iceblock. Instead of checking it out, they brushed it off as seals and went on their way.
Titanic will be gone in a few years. Erosion and repeated visits to the wreck are causing damage in a way that soon the entire structure will collapse and be nothing more than a footprint on the ocean floor. Thankfully there are Titanic enthusiasts out there with far more resources and ambition than myself to dig up as many details as possible of the real story before it is gone forever.
November 1, 2018
Excellent thoroughly researched book. Starts with the planning and building of the Titanic through to the last survivor who died in 2009. Included letters and accounts from the people who were on the Carpathia (rescue ship) which provided a different perspective. I had not read many accounts from these people. Overall a haunting and Interesting book.
December 4, 2018
Book is fine but personally wanted more stories of actual sinking and less about the building of the ship.
January 30, 2017
This was a very interesting read because it showed the work that went into building the Titanic and the excitement right through to the horror. It showed what changed as a result of the disaster and showed peoples thoughts and showed people in different lights to what you usually see. The only thing I felt was missing though perhaps it doesn't exist was a letter from someone who knew the captain stating or defending him as many did Mr Ismay. I feel like no one will ever really know what really happened that night due to deaths of important players and a whole lot of he said she said....all I know is it was a devastating moment in history that won't be forgotten.
January 31, 2024
Very Affecting!
This is a good addition to other Titanic literature I have read. I liked how the author included so many letters and reminiscences from all levels of those who experienced the liner…whether involved in the design to builders to passengers to crew to rescue ship personnel to management of the White Star Line. Many perspectives. I did not know how much pride the workers at the shipyard had in their work as well as the huge joyful turnout of the public at Queenstown. So many mistakes and missed opportunities. Such a tragedy. Lots of detail about the ship’s construction although I still do not understand it all. An enjoyable read.
This is a good addition to other Titanic literature I have read. I liked how the author included so many letters and reminiscences from all levels of those who experienced the liner…whether involved in the design to builders to passengers to crew to rescue ship personnel to management of the White Star Line. Many perspectives. I did not know how much pride the workers at the shipyard had in their work as well as the huge joyful turnout of the public at Queenstown. So many mistakes and missed opportunities. Such a tragedy. Lots of detail about the ship’s construction although I still do not understand it all. An enjoyable read.
June 5, 2019
This book feels unfinished and barely skims the surface of the subject.
It relies on including whole letters or testimonies. My main complaint is that it feels as though the writer doesn't want to do the work of a historian... Instead of sifting through the evidence to form a work of their own, it's more like they've handed us their unfinished work, expecting us to make something of it ourselves.
It had moments of interest but to find then you have to read through a lot of superfluous information.
It relies on including whole letters or testimonies. My main complaint is that it feels as though the writer doesn't want to do the work of a historian... Instead of sifting through the evidence to form a work of their own, it's more like they've handed us their unfinished work, expecting us to make something of it ourselves.
It had moments of interest but to find then you have to read through a lot of superfluous information.
January 29, 2024
An interesting yet heart'-wrenching story of a great maritime disaster
A thorough review of the shirt life and tragic loss of the TITANIC. It covers the entire scope from construction to the sinking and the resulting. Enough detail to give the full story but not overly technical. The statements of builders, crew and passengers are very interesting and make the reader fell like they are st back into history.
A thorough review of the shirt life and tragic loss of the TITANIC. It covers the entire scope from construction to the sinking and the resulting. Enough detail to give the full story but not overly technical. The statements of builders, crew and passengers are very interesting and make the reader fell like they are st back into history.
March 9, 2017
A good book but a lot of focus toward the end on Ismay which I found to be quite boring. Also, I would have appreciated a diagram of the ship to be able to better visualize all of the decks and such mentioned.
April 10, 2021
very detailed.
i wasn’t sure i was going to continue with the book when i first started reading, as the first chapter is quite boring, but the moment things got interesting for me, i rarely put it down.
i wasn’t sure i was going to continue with the book when i first started reading, as the first chapter is quite boring, but the moment things got interesting for me, i rarely put it down.
May 4, 2024
Perfect title for this book
While the early part of this book was a little dry with construction details, it is well worth reading & hearing the actual words of those in the ship. The timeline and details were very well done and bring the disaster alive.
While the early part of this book was a little dry with construction details, it is well worth reading & hearing the actual words of those in the ship. The timeline and details were very well done and bring the disaster alive.
January 6, 2025
This is an interesting, informative book. The first chapter about the building of the ship was a bit dry; however, the book soon moved on to the letters and testimonies of the folks who survived this tragedy, some of which were very moving.
March 29, 2021
The title is promising, but in the end everything is to be found in other books
April 10, 2023
Interesting, informative, and insightful.
July 4, 2023
With the Titan submersible saga reigniting my interest, I read this book that I bought ages ago. Learnt alot more about the accident itself, and fascinating witness testimonies.
December 29, 2023
Great book.
Read
January 1, 2025Read a night to remember and then read this book. This book was so good I actually ended up buy myself a copy and a fellow titanic hobbyist a copy.
December 28, 2014
I picked this up at the library because I'm just fascinated with Titanic and the people of that time. This book does a great job of including contemporary accounts by survivors and newspaper articles from the time that describe the building of the ship and the aftermath. I had never read some of those accounts before and didn't realize how different some of them were. (Barratt notes that not all of the accounts match, which is to be expected because of the traumatizing nature of the accident and the general confusion that followed. He doesn't try to come to any conclusions about the accident, merely states the information that was available at the time.)
The beginning few chapters are quite dry. While I thought it was interesting to read about the building of the Titanic and the historical background that set the scene for its building, it just got boring at times. I struggled through some of those chapters.
I think it is to Barratt's credit that he was able to include so many letters and personal statements from survivors without ever making any of them sound ridiculous. He very easily could've blamed someone for the sinking (as many people still do), but chose instead to simply say, "This is what these people of the time had to say about what happened." And the chapters about the inquiries were interesting as well, seeing what they deemed the cause of the sinking and who they did (or didn't) blame.
Perhaps the most interesting of all was Barratt's focus on Ismay after the sinking, as he was reviled for leaving the ship while women perished.
There are so many myths surrounding the Titanic and what actually happened that night, but this goes a long way to dispelling some of them. (Many of the myths grew out of speculation after the fact and have now become "accepted facts", though none of the eyewitnesses say anything about them.)
The beginning few chapters are quite dry. While I thought it was interesting to read about the building of the Titanic and the historical background that set the scene for its building, it just got boring at times. I struggled through some of those chapters.
I think it is to Barratt's credit that he was able to include so many letters and personal statements from survivors without ever making any of them sound ridiculous. He very easily could've blamed someone for the sinking (as many people still do), but chose instead to simply say, "This is what these people of the time had to say about what happened." And the chapters about the inquiries were interesting as well, seeing what they deemed the cause of the sinking and who they did (or didn't) blame.
Perhaps the most interesting of all was Barratt's focus on Ismay after the sinking, as he was reviled for leaving the ship while women perished.
There are so many myths surrounding the Titanic and what actually happened that night, but this goes a long way to dispelling some of them. (Many of the myths grew out of speculation after the fact and have now become "accepted facts", though none of the eyewitnesses say anything about them.)
December 29, 2014
There are some very moving accounts here--I especially appreciated the letters from a worker on the Titanic and the tender love letters (!!!) from Bruce Ismay's wife.
On the other hand, at times the commentary distracted me. At http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/..., Deborah Hopkinson outlines the issue that bothered me the most--basically, a crew member says that the Carpathia left behind victims who were still alive because weeks later, bodies were found in a lifeboat. If I recall correctly, the crew member never saw these bodies, but the author expands on the crew member's horrific assertion, painting a tragic picture of the horror those victims must have felt when rescue never came. I thought the more likely scenario was that the victims found in a lifeboat were the already deceased victims that Lowe had reported he left behind in a lifeboat. If there's a solid reason to think that victims survived overnight in frigid waters, only to be left behind, I'd like to hear more evidence than a second-hand account.
Overall, the primary sources are fascinating, and I wish I could've seen more of those.
On the other hand, at times the commentary distracted me. At http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/..., Deborah Hopkinson outlines the issue that bothered me the most--basically, a crew member says that the Carpathia left behind victims who were still alive because weeks later, bodies were found in a lifeboat. If I recall correctly, the crew member never saw these bodies, but the author expands on the crew member's horrific assertion, painting a tragic picture of the horror those victims must have felt when rescue never came. I thought the more likely scenario was that the victims found in a lifeboat were the already deceased victims that Lowe had reported he left behind in a lifeboat. If there's a solid reason to think that victims survived overnight in frigid waters, only to be left behind, I'd like to hear more evidence than a second-hand account.
Overall, the primary sources are fascinating, and I wish I could've seen more of those.
June 1, 2016
It's been a while since I've read a Titanic book and I came across this one that I'd not read before. I loved the introduction chapter and it hooked me completely. That's until we got to the construction section- I found it incredibly hard to keep focus when it just listed dimensions and numbers and facts and I really thought that this might be the first Titanic book that doesn't keep a place on my book shelf.
However once we got to Titanic's actual journey and Barratt started including letters from those on board the ship, my interest picked up again and it was truly fascinating. The accounts of the sinking and what it was like on the Carpathia were astonishing and Barratt included fresh information that I hadn't heard before so it was very exciting to learn some new facts.
My only issue with the way it was written is that sometimes it wasn't clear whether it was part of a extract I was reading or Barratt's own words. It just veered from account to account and I got a bit lost at times.
Overall though an incredibly informative book that covers all aspects of Titanic's life with lots of new information.
However once we got to Titanic's actual journey and Barratt started including letters from those on board the ship, my interest picked up again and it was truly fascinating. The accounts of the sinking and what it was like on the Carpathia were astonishing and Barratt included fresh information that I hadn't heard before so it was very exciting to learn some new facts.
My only issue with the way it was written is that sometimes it wasn't clear whether it was part of a extract I was reading or Barratt's own words. It just veered from account to account and I got a bit lost at times.
Overall though an incredibly informative book that covers all aspects of Titanic's life with lots of new information.
September 15, 2010
Author Nick Barratt compiles various writings, from newspaper articles to first-hand accounts, about the Titanic, beginning with the initial idea to build her and her sister ships Olympic and Britanic (originally to be named Gigantic). From the inception of her construction to the final tragic moments when she sunk beneath the calm sea of the Atlantic, Mr. Barratt provides a detailed account of the ship's short and ill-fated life.
Although dry in some parts (particularly in the first part about the building of the ship, as this was all very descriptive and technical), I enjoyed this book. I learned some new facts about the Titanic, both in regards to how she was built, as well as details as she lay damaged in the ocean. For me, most interesting (and more than a little startling) was the account from the Californian. I love learning more about the Titanic, and this book did not disappoint!
Although dry in some parts (particularly in the first part about the building of the ship, as this was all very descriptive and technical), I enjoyed this book. I learned some new facts about the Titanic, both in regards to how she was built, as well as details as she lay damaged in the ocean. For me, most interesting (and more than a little startling) was the account from the Californian. I love learning more about the Titanic, and this book did not disappoint!
September 20, 2011
As the second half of my own book concerns the Titanic, research demanded I visit several websites and purchase several books to read up on the subject. (Yes I went there!) This book was one of many. As the title indicates, this is a collection of survivors' memoirs. Since the ship's final resting place has now been located, experts have been able to confirm that many are amazingly accurate. Records photographs and a timeline of events combine to make this work one of the definitive records of what actually happened that night, and makes for fascinating reading. Although this tragedy still resonates with us, it seems almost as though recounting the fateful night and reminiscing about loved ones who didn't make it has been cathartic for many survivors painful as those memories are. Their bravery has helped create a book which stands as a vibrant testimony for all those who sailed aboard the Titanic on her maiden voyage.
March 26, 2011
The beginning was more than a little dry.
(snicker.)
(you know, cause there's a lot of water in this book.)
(I am going to hell.)
I found the first-person narratives of the final 12 hours of the ship to be striking. Also, the reports of Murdoch committing suicide were extremely surprising... seeing as how Walter Lord never touched upon it. I honestly thought that was just a story arc in the 1997 film.
The thing that still gets me is the breaking of the ship. How could they not hear it? A ship that size... I imagine it would sound something like a nuclear detonation.
If pre-Great War, 20th century history is your thing, I recommend this book.
(snicker.)
(you know, cause there's a lot of water in this book.)
(I am going to hell.)
I found the first-person narratives of the final 12 hours of the ship to be striking. Also, the reports of Murdoch committing suicide were extremely surprising... seeing as how Walter Lord never touched upon it. I honestly thought that was just a story arc in the 1997 film.
The thing that still gets me is the breaking of the ship. How could they not hear it? A ship that size... I imagine it would sound something like a nuclear detonation.
If pre-Great War, 20th century history is your thing, I recommend this book.
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