Other Side of the Night

The Carpathia, the Californian and the Night the Titanic Was Lost

By: Daniel Allen Butler

Narrated by: Paul Heitsch

After every disaster, someone has something to hide....

A few minutes before midnight on April 14, 1912, the "unsinkable" RMS Titanic, on her maiden voyage to New York, struck an iceberg. Less than three hours later she lay at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. While the world has remained fascinated by the tragedy, the most amazing drama of those fateful hours was not played out aboard the doomed liner. It took place on the decks of two other ships, one 58 miles distant from the sinking Titanic, the other barely 10 miles away. The masters of the steamships Carpathia and Californian, Captain Arthur Rostron and Captain Stanley Lord, were informed within minutes of each other that their vessels had picked up the distress signals of a sinking ship. Their actions in the hours and days that followed would become the stuff of legend, as one would choose to take his ship into dangerous waters to answer the call for help, while the other would decide that the hazard to himself and his command was too great to risk responding.

After years of research, Daniel Allen Butler now tells this incredible story, moving from ship to ship on the icy waters of the North Atlantic - in real time - to recount how hundreds of people could have been rescued, but in the end only a few outside of the meager lifeboats were saved. He then looks alike at the U.S. Senate investigation in Washington, and ultimately the British Board of Trade inquiry in London, where the actions of each captain are probed, questioned, and judged, until the truth of what actually happened aboard the Titanic, the Carpathia and the Californian is revealed.

Daniel Allen Butler, a maritime and military historian, is the best-selling author of "Unsinkable": The Full Story of RMS Titanic, Distant Victory: The Battle of Jutland and the Allied Triumph in the First World War, and The First Jihad: The Battle for Khartoum and the Dawn of Militant Islam. He is an internationally recognized authority on maritime subjects and a popular guest-speaker for several cruise lines. Butler lives and works in Los Angeles, California.

©2009 Daniel Allen Butler (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Factually Disturbing

Very well written, gives a huge amount of history, yet is entertaining in a disturbing way. The story of two men, one a coward and one a unassuming hero. At times I marveled at the different human natures recounted in this book.
This reading is well preformed, I will listen to it again.

The hidden story

Yes, I knew the story of the Titanic; massive ‘unsinkable’ ship sinks after hitting an iceberg. I also knew that in James Cameron’s film Leonardo DiCaprio proclaimed, “I’m King of the world”! Yet the ship still sinks. But this book tells the fascinating true story of The Titanic and of two other ships; The Californian and The Carpathia, and the heroism and cowardice of their Captains in attempting to rescue Titanic survivors. It was an enlightening read, of a familiar story but with a revelation of events and details that had a giant impact on that time and on ours.

Interesting!

Would you listen to Other Side of the Night again? Why?

Yes, definitely, the information is fascinating and the level of detail is outstanding. Worth going back over for those interested in this story, particularly what happened on the other ships involved in the disaster.

The Day After

The sinking of the Titanic is a well-known story; the criminal negligence of Captain Lord of the Californian, not so much.

A few reviewers have criticized the inclusion of testimony from key figures such as Lord as being "dry" when in reality, this damning testimony is the heart of the book. At the very least, it provides a disturbing but plausible explanation for Lord's indifference to the tragedy unfolding in plain view of the Californian.

Arthur Rostron, the 42-year old captain of the Carpathia, made all the right moves as he raced through the ice fields of the North Atlantic to reach the foundering ship Titanic. Indeed, of the three men who captained the ships forever linked in this entirely preventable disaster, Rostron is the solitary hero.

_

"You must get me a better position."

"Find me some votes."

Yes, there's been over a century of public shaming of Stanley Lord. No, it's not enough. Holding him properly accountable at the time might very well have deterred some of the psychopathy rampant in international business and politics today. Shame will obviously never suffice for those who are incapable of feeling shame.