This "handsome volume" offers a "lavishly illustrated" journey back to the golden age of steam travel through first-hand accounts and images of the passengers (Bruce Peter, author of Ship Style).A Century of Sea Travel is an eye-opening voyage through the golden years of the passenger steamship, a voyage described by the very travelers who sailed on these magnificent engineering marvels. In memoirs and letters home, diaries and t...

\"Captain Smith came running out of the chart room. \'What is it?\' he asked. \'We have struck ice, Sir.\'\"\"Titanic\" was published in 1912, shortly after the disaster. In his book, Young provides a detailed account of the Titanic\'s construction, the voyage, and the sinking, using information from survivors and other firsthand sources. He also analyzes the events leading up to the disaster, including the warnings that were ignored, the actions of the crew, and the inadequate num...

"The story of the Titanic has been told many times; this one takes a sociological perspective, with the confident, graceful prose of fine fiction." — Wall Street JournalIt has been over one hundred years since the sinking of the passenger liner Titanic in the North Atlantic, yet worldwide fascination with the epic tragedy remains as strong as ever. With Voyagers of the Titanic, Richard Davenport-Hines gives us a magnificent history of the people in...

Marking the centenary of the Titanic disaster, ‘Titanic Lives’ is an utterly compelling exploration of the lives of the passengers and crew on board the most famous ship in history.The RMS Titanic was built as one of the world's largest and most luxurious liners. A marine Ritz, it was a 45,000-tonne hotel of thin steel plates, travelling at a speed of 21 knots across the North Atlantic.On the night of 14 April 1912, midway through her maiden voyage, the seemingly unsinkable...

'Goodbye Miss Young. Good luck to you and don't forget to remember me to the folks back home.'Major Archibald Butt (1865-1912)The sinking of the Titanic on her maiden voyage in 1912 is one of the most dramatic stories in maritime history. The largest passenger steamship in the world, fitted with more advanced safety features than any of her rivals, she was proclaimed to be virtually unsinkable.More than 1,500 people perished when th...

A uniquely woven story encompassing three separate centuries and three different lives. Captain Cook, best known for his heroic voyages through the Pacific Ocean, is brought to life in vivid detail. We follow his humble beginnings as the son of a farm labourer, through his convention-shattering treatment of the indigenous groups he met on his travels, and then onto his final tragic voyage which signalled the end of his revered reputation.One hundred years on from the death of Cook,...

Robert Hichens has gone down in history as the man who was given the famous order to steer the Titanic away from the iceberg and failed. Following this, his falling out with the 'Unsinkable Molly Brown' over the actions of the lifeboats saw him branded a coward and his name indelibly tarnished. A key witness at both US and British Inquiries, Robert returned to a livelihood where fellow crewmen considered him jinxed. But Robert had a long career and was a hardworking, ambit...

The epic story of one of Australia's greatest maritime disasters, the wreck of the Dunbar.'gripping, engaging popular history' - Sydney Morning HeraldThe Dunbar was one of the most advanced and celebrated sailing ships of the mid-19th century. Built to carry passengers in speed and luxury on the long route from Britain to Australia, it was the Titanic of its day.Late at night on 20 August 1857, af...

"Catnip to the ship’s dedicated buffs." —Publishers WeeklyIn Titanic Tragedy maritime historian John Maxtone-Graham documents the vessel’s design, construction, and departure from Southampton, her passengers’ lifeboat ordeal, their Carpathia rescue, the role of new technologies, and memorials to her crew. He describes poignantly the performance of her eight gallant bandsmen who played on deck to the very end; none survived. Added historic...

A major new history of the disaster that weaves into the narrative the first-hand accounts of those who survived. It was twenty minutes to midnight on Sunday 14 April, when Jack Thayer felt the Titanic lurch to port, a motion followed by the slightest of shocks. Seven-year old Eva Hart barely noticed anything was wrong. For Stoker Fred Barrett, shovelling coal down below, it was somewhat different; the side of the ship where he was working caved in. For the next nine hours, Jack, Eva and F...

"Harrowing and emotional . . . A tribute to the enduring power of family. The story of the disaster's widows uplifts and devastates in equal measure." —Gareth Russell, author of The Ship of DreamsWhen the Titanic foundered in April 1912, the world's focus was on the tragedy of the passengers who lost their lives. Ever since, in films, dramatizations, adaptations and books, the focus has mostly continued to be on the ones who died.The Tit...

Commander Edward John Smith's career had been a remarkable example of how a man from a humble background could get far in the world. Born to a working-class family in the landlocked Staffordshire Potteries, he went to sea at the age of 17 and rose rapidly through the ranks of the merchant navy, serving first in sailing vessels and later in the new steamships of the White Star Line. By 1912, he as White Star's senior commander and regarded by many in the shipping world as t...