What is FUNNY is that we all are passing judgement on a book that WE ALL likely bought!
Not necessarily funny, Larry. Many of us (but by no means all - some, like Kyrila, were warned off in time!) purchased Gardiner's first Titanic book without knowing the contents. I wish someone had warned me, but at the time I wasn't online and was isolated from the general Titanic 'community'. I purchased it years ago, at a time when the only two books readily available on general Sydney bookstore shelves were Ballard's book on the discovery of the wreck and Gardiner's. This was before the on-line book purchasing boom, and when I wanted to purchase other titles I had to provide an ISBN for a bookstore to do so (I even had to order ANTR this way). It was accessible. At least we can say we're responding from firsthand knowledge of the text!
I hold that it's a case of 'Once fooled, shame on you. Twice fooled, shame on me.' Which is why I'm happy to say I did not waste money on Gardiner's second, even more execrable work.
