The Titanic: Disaster of the Century

De: Wyn Craig Wade

Narrado por: Robertson Dean

In this centennial edition of the definitive book on the Titanic, new findings and interviews shed light on the world’s most famous marine disaster for its 100th anniversary.

On that fatal night in 1912, the world’s largest moving object disappeared beneath the waters of the North Atlantic in less than three hours. Why was the ship sailing through waters well known to be a "mass of floating ice"? Why were there too few lifeboats? Why were a third of the survivors crew members? Based on the sensational evidence of the U.S. Senate hearings, eyewitness accounts, and the results of the 1985 Woods Hole expedition that photographed the ship, this electrifying account vividly re-creates the vessel’s last desperate hours afloat and fully addresses the questions that have continued to haunt the tragedy of the Titanic.

©2012 Wyn Craig Wade (P)2012 Tantor

Reseñas de la Crítica

"A thorough, argumentative work." (John Updike, The New Yorker)

Very informative book

This book is more than the standard info about the Titanic. It centers on the investigation after the wreck and is very thorough and very interesting. I really enjoyed the listen although it could have been a little shorter without damaging the experience.

Not what I expected

I got this book based on an interest in finding out more about the wreck itself and maybe a forensic breakdown down or more detailed breakdown of the events That transpired It seemed to me that there was a lot more emphasis on the politics of the day then there were any kind of technical or scientific analysis of Titanic.. I had to stop it and start it several times because it gets kind of dry in spots... All in all Very informative Just not what I thought I was getting myself into

Fascinating Nuggets Imbedded Within Tedium

I wanted Titanic info, and this book has lots of stuff that I had never known. OTOH, the interesting info - of which there is much - is surrounded by long, uninteresting (to me) sections about the politicians conducting the subsequent investigations, and about the intrigues that surrounded them. To be sure, the politicians and companies and newspapers and survivors DID have their positions, which needed sorting out, and that is done nicely here.
But I wanted more about the ship and the sinking. To wit: I just watched a convincing TV doc describing a factor that I now am convinced did cause Titanic to sink more quickly than it otherwise would have - a factor which received extremely little mention in this book. (I am talking about the enormous heat from smoldering coal inside coal bunker No. 6, whose weakened wall allowed the sea to burst through where it otherwise would not have. Look it up.)
A worthy book, but not one I will run to tell others about.

Outstanding

As a consumer of all-thing-Titanic, I can say this was a thorough and entertaining listen. I learned so much from this and found myself looking forward to long car rides so that I could hear more.

Everything you did not know about Titanic.

Loved this accounts depth, details, and incredible descriptions of the most famous lost ship ever.

Very dry in places.

This book gets very long, dry and boating in places. It's like trying to read a collage thesis paper that has added personal accounts just to make the authors writing bearable.

Not what I thought and glad it wasn’t

This book is much more than a blow by blow of what happened during the Titanic’s maiden voyage. It tells the story of US Senate investigation so you get tons of information about what happened, but the author digs deeper into how the Titanic tragedy shattered the innocent naivety of the early 1900s that technology could save mankind from the perils and hardships of life. It is rich in history of that time period with Taft as the president of the United States and the friendship turned rivalry between Taft and Roosevelt. The last few chapters are so eloquently written and thought provoking that I haven’t completely processed it yet. There are times that the writer gets into the uncomfortable truths of humanity and how much we as a society still haven’t learned. I have a feeling that this will be an audiobook that I replay often and each time gain more information and insight on the Titanic.

Is there anything new to learn in this story?

I thought that I knew everything there was to know about the Titanic. I was wrong. I also thought that I must have read this book before; as I thought that I must have read all there is to read....wrong again!
This book, told from the point of view of the American Senate hearings, sheds new light on the events, the personalities, and the reactions of all those involved.
The reading is masterful. On many occasions, I would return to re-listen to a extract; not because it was garbled, but because the details were so good; that I needed to re-listen, and re-think my supposed knowledge of a fact. Simply an excellent listen.
I recommend, that if you haven't read anything about the Titanic, (is there anyone left in the world who hasn't?) that Walter Lord's "A Night to Remember" is a good starting point. A background to most of the story will enhance this telling; but then, listen to this, and become further enlightened.
I am putting Robertson Dean on my list of readers to take note of. He did a great job, apart from trying to mimic some speech patterns of Brits, a teeny word or two just marginally wonky in places; but; absolutely forgiven, as those moments only briefly ached the ear of this fussy Brit. But Dean's pacing was superb. His voice good to listen to.

Well written and well narrated

A beautiful executed retelling of a fascinating story. Who knew that the inquiry after the disaster was more interesting than the disaster itself!

Different examination of a well known disaster

I almost put this down during the introduction, but I’m so glad I stuck with it.
Instead of investigating the action leading up to and during the sinking of this famous ship, this book is about the USA inquiry immediately following the sinking, what happened while waiting for the Carpathia to arrive in NYC, investigations of the disaster, and the long-term affects of the Titanic’s sinking on American, British, and maritime cultures. Using actual testimony and first hand accounts of April 15, 1912, the reader learns that heroes and villains of the disaster are not always the ones we’ve been told about, and sorts out what legends have been changed, created, or actually have been presented faithfully in the plethora of tellings and retellings of the Titanic’s story over the years.