Titanic : the last night of a small town / John Welshman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Welshman, John.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Titanic (Steamship).

Shipwrecks--North Atlantic Ocean.

Shipwrecks.

Shipwreck survival.

North Atlantic Ocean.

Shipwreck survival--Anecdotes.

Genre:

Anecdotes.

Physical Description:

xxii, 324 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2012.

Summary:

In Titanic, Welshman offers a minute-by-minute account of the doomed liner's last hours, based on a representative cross-section of those who sailed in her: men and women, old and young, passengers and crew, wealthy and poor. He introduces the reader to a fascinating cast of twelve eye-witnesses, including Arthur H. Rostron, Captain of the Carpathia, the first ship to reach the scene; Charles Lightoller, the Titanic's Second Officer; Archibald Gracie, a wealthy American cotton plantation owner; Elin Hakkarainen, a young migrant from Finland, travelling Third Class; and Edith Brown, a teenager from South Africa. The book also documents the experiences of an Assistant Wireless Operator, a Stewardess, an amateur military historian, a governess, a teacher, and a domestic servant. The survivor accounts allow Welshman to construct a graphic and compelling picture of events on a day-to-day and hour-by-hour basis, providing vivid glimpses of the tragedy as seen from their respective vantage points. In addition, Welshman tells the story of where these twelve people were from and what happened to those who survived in the years afterwards. --amazon.com

Contents:

1 'The Biggest Anchor in the World' 8

2 'Like a Big Expectant Family' 31

3 'A Wonderful Passage Up To Now' 58

4 'Ice, Flat Like a Pocket Watch' 92

5 'We Have Collision with Iceberg' 127

6 'Latitude 41° 46' N, Longitude 50° 14' W 157

7 'She's Gone, Lads; Row Like Hell' 177

8 'A Dark Speck on the Horizon' 200

9 'Arranged for Your Exclusive Story' 231

10 'Mr Beesley's Simple Narrative' 254.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 309-310) and index.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Livezey Fund bookplate.

ISBN:

9780199595570 :

0199595577 :

OCLC:

748331396