Voyagers of the Titanic: Passengers, Sailors, Shipbuilders, Aristocrats, and the Worlds They Came From

"Voyagers of the Titanic," as its title implies, focuses on the people rather than the technical aspects of the wreck. Davenport-Hines organizes the stories into groups: among them the shipbuilders, the ship's officers, and the first, second, and third class passengers. I was particularly pleased to see so much attention being given to second class, which was given short shrift in the movie "Titanic" and in many other accounts of the disaster.

Up to the point where the iceberg strikes, each chapter is filled with interlocking mini-biographies of the people involved. The narrative is organized loosely in a kind of "six degrees of separation" style: branching out through the passenger list and giving a vivid sense not only of the people but of the world they inhabited.

The author reaps the benefits of this careful preparation in his narration of the disaster itself. These are not random people who show up on the boat deck: they're people we've met, spent some time with, come to have some opinions about. Davenport-Hines recounts the story of the wreck, the lifeboats, the rescue, the dissemination of the news: it's all familiar ground to Titanic buffs, but given here with superlative organization and a host of fresh details.

Anyone who's read more than one book about the Titanic knows how vastly different perceptions can be. Davenport-Hines takes a dim view of Senator William Smith's US Senate inquiry into the disaster, accusing Smith of "grating stupidity" and the hearings as "raucous scapegoating." Smith, of course, was virtually the hero of Wyn Craig Wade's book, "The Titanic: Disaster of the Century."

I don't think I would recommend this to someone as the first book to read on the subject - that would still have to be Walter Lord's classic - but it's a compelling listen, a very thorough account of the subject, and it should definitely be the second or third book on your Titanic list.

If you’ve read as many books and seen as many documentaries about Titanic as I have, you’ll willingly add this book to your list.

It’s like a little collection of biographies of people whom you already know a little about. Having seen movies and TV series and documentaries, you’ll recognize most names and already have an understanding of how the main characters relate to one another. This book fleshes that out in more detail by providing additional background information and interesting facts about the key players’ lives.

Survivor’s recollections of the sinking itself were compelling, as well as the long cold wait for rescue. (Wouldn’t that make an interesting movie? A couple whose vacation plans are interrupted when their boat (The Carpathia) alters course to rescue Titanic survivors…).

I was not expecting to learn anything new, but I did! Not just trivia like how many napkins and nutcrackers and wine bottles were on board the Titanic (LOTS) but about how so many passengers were bound for Canada for example, and what their plans would have been had they survived the sinking.

The book also includes a lot of details of the days in New York just after the sinking; I found this the most interesting of all because this part of history is often overlooked. Attention is usually always focused on the boat, very little to the people left behind. I had no idea there were so many imposter-grievers! People pretending they lost loved ones in the sinking!!

The “what ever happened to” section at the end where we learn the long term fate of survivors is poignant (although a little ghoulish) because it exposes how an experience like this can impact a person deeply for life.

It was a great read – I highly recommend it.

Wonderful period information. Full of generally unknown detail. Paints a portrait of an era, as well as a ship. The narrator captures voices from the past.

This is the only book I have read about the Titanic, so I don't have others with which to compare it. That said, I couldn't be more delighted with this book. After I finished listening, I also bought it in hardcover.

Davenport-Hines writes with eloquence, erudition, and authority, and Sachs' elegant narration matches the quality of authorship.

The focus of the book is what attracted me to it: the people and "the worlds they came from." From the workers whose back-breaking labor fueled the ship to the pampered existence of the wealthiest passengers in First Class, the sociological reality of the time is illuminated through details of everyday experience. To me, this is the most fascinating part of reading history. I enjoy minutiae, which this author provides in abundance.

I would recommend the book to anyone who is interested in the Titanic, of course, but also to anyone interested in the period just before World War I generally. It is a haunting story, one that will stay with me for a very long time.

It was an interesting - I learned a lot. The author folded in all of the information and details beautifully....

He made the tragedy far more "personal" with so many stories of the individuals involved with both the construction of the ship and those on the voyage.

Hard to specify that with this type of book. I think the "regular" people he talked about ..such sad stories.

I certainly got teary...

The narrator did a simply outstanding job....

When you have read as many books on the Titanic disaster as I have, it is really difficult for me to find a new slant on the shipwreck. This author has done just that for me, he has found a new way to tell the story, from the viewpoint of the people who participated. Instead of focusing on how the ship reacts to the iceberg, he focuses on how the people react to the disaster. You feel as though you get to know the people who planned the ship, those who built the ship, those who sailed on the ship and those who survived the ship and went on to live out the rest of their lives. I was deeply inthralled to learn so much about the people. A fantasic read for the true Titanic buff. The reader for this title was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed my audio experience.

This was an interesting read particularly for history or Titanic buffs. Otherwise I wouldn't recommend it. I zipped through it on fast speed.

I always find it fascinating to read the personal stories of the participants in an event - good or bad - and this book reveals insights into the passengers and crew that you don't see in most histories. I recommend it for any Titanic enthusiast or person interested in the lives of people of the period.

Understanding the impact on families who lost loved ones.

No

I enjoyed listening to the accounts of peoples lives.

What happened after the wreck was very interesting, The way the press handled the situation. The brokenhearted people waiting to see if their relatives, their loved ones, the ones that meant more than anything to those waiting on shore, had survived.

I listened to it start to finish over a couple of days.

No No and NO

I have no idea! I couldn't even finish it I kept falling asleep listening to it

he didn't even seem to enjoy the story. He spoke in a monatone voice the entire time making the words just seem to drag on and on.

Just disappointment

I would only recommend this book to someone who has a hard time sleeping at night. No medication help needed just plug this in. Don't know what else to say just aweful and sadly I haven't been able to return it to get something else.