What is the most treasured Titanic book in your collection

[Tarn Stephanos]

A question for Titanic bibliophiles- what is the most treasured Titanic book in your collection? What book is your 'baby'? My Jack Thayer is tops., closely followed by my Lightoller and walker books- but i love my Thayer- I affixed a fragment of Titanic lifejacket material on the inside cover....Its my baby........

I love my books, as much as I would love my pets......

regards


Tarn Stephanos

 

[Jason Schleisman]

The book that started it all for me was Bob Ballard's book "The Discovery of the Titanic". That was my top treasured book for several years until Don Lynch and Ken Marschall came out with "Titanic an Illustrated History". They're not antiques, but oh well. Now I have quite a few books, it's hard to choose. I like my Commutators as well......(sigh).....don't make me choose, I love them all!

 

[Michael H. Standart]

I never really gave it a lot of thought. With a very few exceptions, all of them have a certain value. I suppose the tops on my list are the written transcripts of the inquiries themselves. As to the rest, it would be hard to pick any one of them to be the top dog!

 

[Steven Hall]

"I suppose the tops on my list are the written transcripts of the inquiries themselves."

Like Mike said, that's the best.
It sits in my bedside table. Once or twice a month I pull it out when I have nothing else to read up there.
But my favourite books, (don't tell anyone - LOL') is my Enid Blyton's. The Famous Five the best.

Steve

 

[Dave Gittins]

Leaving aside the transcripts, which I have in digital form, my pet books are those that contain contemporary newspapers. These are Dave Bryceson's book and the collection assembled by Eric Caren and Steve Goldman.

 

[Paul Rogers]

Raise the Titanic by Clive Cussler. The one that started it all for me.

The Maiden Voyage by Geoffrey Marcus, for its readability (is that a word?) in covering the entire story. Yes, Marcus does get a few things wrong, but on the whole it's beautifully researched with copious footnotes and references.

Last Log of the Titanic by David Brown, for pure excitement and frequent: "Of course! Why didn't I think of that?" moments.

Titanic: Monument and Warning by some Aussie bloke. If it were printed as opposed to on CD, this would be my all-time favourite. One will not find a more comprehensive and balanced Titanic reference book, IMHO.


/Pay me later, Gittins!

 

[Shelley Dziedzic]

The Cussler book came out in two sizes- one was Book of the Month club size with the one on the bookstore shelves standard . I wonder how much the movie poster from that film is now worth?

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>for its readability (is that a word?) <<

Yes it is, and I think that it's also an important quality for any book to have, and amazingly elusive. No matter how excruciatingly accurate the work may be, it's of little real use if the style is so dull that it's only real utility is to act as a sleeping pill.

David G. Brown has that talant in that he can not only tell the story, but explain some very complex concepts of shiphandling in a way that's easy for the layman to understand. John Maxtone-Graham also has this talant and I think the key is that they write in an easygoing conversational style which gets right to whatever point these two chaps are trying to make. Dave Gittins has the same talant which you can see for yourself on his website. His E-book is written in the same fashion.

Anyone who has ever suffered through Brinnan's "The Sway Of The Grand Saloon" will appriciate the differences in style. The history there was really first rate, but the writing style was the best tranquilizer I ever took.

 

[Paul Rogers]

"Anyone who has ever suffered through Brinnan's "The Sway Of The Grand Saloon" will appriciate the differences in style. The history there was really first rate, but the writing style was the best tranquilizer I ever took."

Quite so.

I am currently reading History of the White Star Line by Robin Gardiner. The research that has gone into the book appears phenomenal and there's enough detail for the smallest of 'Small Chunkers' but the writing style (and ridiculously small font size) make it less than an easy read; for me at least.

 

[John Clifford]

For me, I really enjoy "Titanic: An Illustrated History" by Don Lynch & Ken Marschall.

However, the one that will always hold "a special place" for me is, of course:

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, by Walter Lord

 

[Dave Gittins]

Thanks to the cheer squad! If my e-book were printed it would present problems.

1. It would cost a great deal more.
2. You'd need a forklift to carry it. It's more than 230,000 words and about 100 illustrations.
3. You'd lose all the special features, such as the pop-up references.

What do folk think of The Man Who Sank the Titanic? by Gary Cooper. (I'm not kidding about the name!). I was reading parts of it today. It's interesting that Captain Smith served as an AB for some years in sail.

 

[Mike Poirier]

Hmmm... I have an original Dr. Dodge booklet.
Got it for a steal too. I guess in terms of books, I read over and over again. Probably
Triumph and Tragedy and Women and Children Last. Probably because they present so much info.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>What do folk think of The Man Who Sank the Titanic? by Gary Cooper.<<

I'd offer an opinion if I had a copy to read. Does anybody know where to get one or is it out of print? Since Mr. Cooper is a member of ET, he may be able to answer that one.

 

[Tarn Stephanos]

The Washinton Dodge pamphlet is nice- I had one once, but traded it away.....I have the THS reprint for now- will try and re-find an original-
Possibly the most amusing book I have is "Titanic Revisited'- this pre-discovery titanic book suggested Titanic probrolly struck the sea floor at the speed of sound, and the wreck was in all likleyhood sticking out of the sea floor, with the stern pointing skyward...
The author seemed to have no understanding of the concept of maximum velocity when it came to objects sinking in water and falling to the sea floor....



regards


Tarn Stephanos

 

[Jonathan Granato]

"Anyone who has ever suffered through Brinnan's "The Sway Of The Grand Saloon" will appriciate the differences in style. The history there was really first rate, but the writing style was the best tranquilizer I ever took.
HAH! I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST ME! That guy complained about First Class accommodations on all the big liners from 1907 - 1937!