On Sunday 14th April 1912 as the unsinkable RMS Titanic cruised the north Atlantic everything proceeded with an almost dreamlike charm. All of this was suddenly interrupted by an abrupt ‘full astern’ order from Captain Edward J Smith.
It was too late. At 2340 that evening, the starboard bow of the Titanic glanced against a half-submerged iceberg lying in her path. The vessel carried 2207 passengers and crew with lifeboat places for only 1178 of them and she was suddenly sinking 400 miles from any land.
The book is written from the interesting viewpoint of the people on board as opposed to the vessel. This it does very well. There were many heroes on that fateful night, many of them crew members. The book brings to light so many simple acts of valour performed by ordinary men and women. These were regular people who at that moment acted heroically in the face of adversity.
If I have a criticism it’s that the writer repeats quite a lot of the events as he relates individual stories but that is a minor complaint as many of those events are intertwined with human stories.
The whole story of that night and the lives affected in later years are brought to life by some fascinating facts.
I would recommend this book to those, like me, who are interested in the history of this and other disasters.
My thanks to #NetGalley, #PenandSwordHistory and #AnthonyNicholas for this free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
My Write 