Advice on best Titanic book?

sally1976

Member
Hi Im just wondering what books you guys have read ? and any advice on which you think are the best titanic books to buy as im interested in purchasing a few.I have just read a night ANTR after being told it was a good book but didnt find it detailed enough and very short.Any guidance would be appreciated many thanks xx
 
Hi Sally,

It really depends on what you're interested in! Most Titanic books specialise in a particular area. So it depends on whether you're interested in the construction of the ship, survivor testimonies, the sinking itself, the discovery of the wreck, etc etc. "Titanic: An Illustrated History" is great from an overall visual aspect.

Cheers,
Adam.
 
As Adam already stated it depends on what you are interested. Regarding survivor accounts, I would recommend the book "On Board RMS Titanic" by George Behe which contains many accounts from newspapers and private letters.
Beside the book Adam mentioned "On A Sea of Glass" is also good from what I have heard and would be more up to date as ANTR. Report into the loss of the SS Titanic by Samuel Halpern and others is also great but did not go very much in detail regarding survivor accounts.

If you are interested in the construction I would recommend "Titanic The Ship Magnificent" by Steve Hall, Bruce Beverbridge, Scott Andrews, Daniel Klistorner & Art Braunschweiger. Volume 1 is about the Technical Details and Volume 2 about the interior.

If you also like something of the kind photo book then I would recommend "Titanic in Photographs" by Steve Hall and Daniel Klistorner. If you like the story of the Olympic Class Ships then the books of Mark Chirnside will be of great help!
 
I know i'll get flamed for this but I really enjoyed Charles Pellegrino's "Her Name Titanic" - brings the whole story to life. ANTR is very outdated now but it's worth reading, Sally, and you should be able to pick it up cheap. If you haven't already, be sure to get yourself "Ghosts Of The Abyss" - the book and the docco movie.

As far as construction and design of the ship goes, aside from the books Ioannis mentioned, "Anatomy Of The Titanic" by Tom McCluskie would be a worthy addition to any Titanic collection as well.

Cheers,
Adam. :)
 
Even I enjoy the book "Ghosts of the Titanic" by Charles Pellegrino his books are nothing I would recommend! Most of the stuff is made up. Regarding the book "Anatomy of the Titanic" by Tom McCluskie honestly I am not impressed. He did not go into detail and many pictures there are actually from Olympic or even Britannic and if I remember right some are also wrong captioned. I think both volumes of Titanic - The Ship Magnificent are the best about her construction.

The Titanic books by Eaton and Haas like Titanic - Triumph and Tragedy are also worth to read!
 
Each book Ioannis mentions in his post on the 18th are in my collection, and fully worthy of mention.

But again, as Adam has stated, it depends on your area of interest.

I would also include the transcripts of the hearings into the disaster.
 
I would like to read about all of it,the only part that doesnt really interest me is the construction side of it.That many titanic books have been wrote by different authors that it confuses me as to which ones are accurate,they all seem to contradict each other.I would like to read FACT not FICTION.I certainly agree trev I would also like to read the transcripts of the inquiry then we would get the facts.It would also be interesting to see how different if any were the inquiries being 2 in seperate countries x
 
Hi all,

Ioannis, I know that a lot of what Pellegrino says is made up but as I mentioned, so long as you take that into account it does bring the story to life - Pellegrino has an excellent imagination and a great way of telling the tale.

As for McCluskie, it has great visual representation but it's been a long time since I looked at it and so wasn't aware that many of the images were of the Olympic.

Sally I would also add that anything on the subject of the Titanic or other maritime history by Robert Ballard is worthwhile reading - just bear in mind that some of his older stuff like "Discovery of the Titanic" is pretty outdated now and a lot more information has come to light since it was published (1986/7).

Cheers,
Adam.
 
Hi Adam,

as I said I really enjoy his book "Ghosts of the Titanic" but it is nothing I would recommend to everyone.

Regarding Ballard, I am not quite sure. I would say "Discovery of the Titanic" is the better one as there are no much of those false claims Ballard did (about damage to the wreck etc.) as he did in "Return to Titanic". Much better are the books "Ghost of the Abyss" and "Exploring the deep" which have much more stuff about the wreck and more pictures and information as the books by Ballard.
 
Hi Ioannis,

The trouble is that when Ballard was exploring and writing heavily about the wreck of the Titanic from 1985 - 1987, there was very little known about the ship and the only photographs and film which could be taken were from Ballard's submersibles which were only equipped with (now) primitive 1980's technology. James Cameron had a much better opportunity by the early 2000's.

His books are definitely worth reading as the man behind the discovery of the wreck, but his motives behind discovering the wreck - as in his work with the US Navy - must also be kept in mind.

Cheers,
Adam.
 
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