#1 New York Times Bestseller: The definitive book on the sinking of the Titanic, based on interviews with survivors, by the author of The Miracle of Dunkirk. At first, no one but the lookout recognized the sound. Passengers described it as the impact of a heavy wave, a scraping noise, or the tearing of a long calico strip. In fact, it was the sound of the world’s most famous ocean liner striking … world’s most famous ocean liner striking an iceberg, and it served as the death knell for 1,500 souls. In the next two hours and forty minutes, the maiden voyage of the Titanic became one of history’s worst maritime accidents. As the ship’s deck slipped closer to the icy waterline, women pleaded with their husbands to join them on lifeboats. Men changed into their evening clothes to meet death with dignity. And in steerage, hundreds fought bitterly against certain death. At 2:15 a.m. the ship’s band played “Autumn.” Five minutes later, the Titanic was gone. Based on interviews with sixty-three survivors, Lord’s moment-by-moment account is among the finest books written about one of the twentieth century’s bleakest nights.
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I’ve read this book several times in my life and have seen the movie by the same title at least twice. It is a book I would willingly reread even today. The drama, the realism, the actual effect on real peoples’ lives is gripping in an eye-opening way. The later movie, T****** starring LC does not hold a candle to what actually happened. A Night …
The definitive TitNic book.
This was one of the earliest well-documented books on the Titanic. I read it 50 years ago and still remember how impressive it was.
Old but still really good
The great story of a great tragedy.
What’s interesting is that when we went to see Titanic, the girls sitting behind us didn’t know the ship was going to sink. They were quite surprised at that plot twist.
Reading– it’s important. As is history.
Authentic and engaging
The classic Titanic Book, very informative, written when survivors still slive
This book is a must read for anyone interested in the Titanic. I first read it when eight years old when the book was just published. I have read it several times since. Other detailed and well-written accounts of the Titanic disaster have been published since, but Walter Lord launched my undying fascination with the Titanic story and did the same …
It was amazing.
The first Titanic book I ever read, also the source of the late-50s movie of the same title. Mr. Lord sometimes takes at face value the testimony of witnesses who may be “exaggerating.” But no doubt about it, it’s a classic.
Lord’s book is a classic about the sinking of the Titanic. Although we’ll researched for the time and we’ll written some of the facts in the book have proven erroneous through more modern science, but it’s a very well written and not to be missed by Titanic aficionados.
Read this when it first came out. Was required reading in my Oceanography class. Information is dated now, but book important because it represents the survivors point of view.
Read this when much younger and never forgot it. If the quality and power of a story about real events can impress one the way this story impressed me, then it must be great.
No other book about the events of the sinking of the “Titanic” measures up.
If you enjoyed Erik Larson’s “Dead Wake” about the sinking of the “Lusitania,” you will be a …
Read it when it came out and it still stands up and is edge of your seet even if you know the ending
I read this 55 years ago and remember it still. I guess that’s a good indicator of the strength of this book.
Long before the 1997 blockbuster film sailed into history, there was this extraordinary 1955 book and the 1958 movie that followed. This excellent book provides countless facts about the April night in 1912 that witnessed the epic failure of the “unsinkable” leviathan. Well worth reading.
Read this a long time ago. Did not enjoy the writer’s style. Such a tragic event, I expected more from the authors rendition. Others may find it more to their taste than I did.
Today marks the 107th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, the most famous and largest maritime disaster in history. On April 14, 1912, late in the evening, the Titanic hit an iceberg going full speed with an estimated 2,224 passengers on board. In the early hours of March 15, 1912, the largest oceanliner of its time, dubbed the …
This is a wonderful classic book about the Titanic written before she was discovered on the ocean floor. it is one of the best Titanic books written and certainly tells the true story of Titanic’s tragic sinking. Highly recommend to any Titanic fan. A true classic.
The maiden voyage of an unsinkable ship should have been happily unremarkable and would have been if it hadn’t been for an iceberg. A series of seemingly simple snafus lead to a horrendous outcome!