We all have seen Titanic and have absolutely loved it. James Cameron has created a beautiful piece of history while weaving a love story around it. The drowning sequence of Titanic literally gave me goosebumps. I am scared of water and equally fascinated by it. Also the story of Titanic interests me. I've also seen the first version of Titanic movie where lots of facts were not shown as they were not known. When James Cameron made the movie lots of facts had come to light, major one being Titanic broke from the middle before it sank.
When I came across this book on Kindle I knew I had to read it. A book on pure facts of Titanic sans the love story. And I think it was a very right decision. The book starts with the formation of Company White Star Liner, speaks about its management and the factors that led to building of The Titanic. It also clarifies what the letters RMS mean which was prefixed for Titanic. The initial owners of the White Star Liner were a good lot of people who understood business as well as oceans and engineering due to which the company flourished. Later when the management changed the main focus was only business and little knowledge of Oceans.
The book minutely details us the architecture of the Ship which was designed by Thomas Andrews and the basis on which it was designed in that manner. Titanic was designed more to be like a hotel rather than of a ship which had its own problems. It was built to accomodate more rooms than the normal to increase the revenue. Moreover, the warnings of flaws in architecture went unheard and unheeded. The book highlights the reasons anticipated as to what are the causes of accident and all of them had been taken care. It also tells us the real reason on why there were few number of lifeboats on Titanic, mainly because they didn't expect an accident in mid ocean rather they expected in the coastal areas as was the norm where passengers can be taken to safety quickly and with lesser lifeboats. And surprisingly the number of lifeboats exceeded the minimum number of lifeboats required on cruises as per the regulations of that time!!
The book further details about the count of crew and their responsibilities. The facts about warnings being received about icefields and ultimate collision is something that could have been avoided. Further, the complex architecture creating hurdles in the evacuation is described and is saddening. The book provides for the reasoning and a valid one as to why the initial lifeboats that were launched were not fully loaded. The discipline of the staff onboard was worthy of an applause for their efforts in the rescue.
The entire rescue is very heart breaking. The book further narrates the sinking of Titanic to which James Cameron has done full justice. The aftermath of the Titanic is worth a read. The enquiries made clarifies a lot many things. Sighting of a mystery ship which was not mentioned in the movie which still remains unresolved is something to ponder upon. The various ships that rushed to the site of Titanic but none could make it before everything was over is simply saddening. Lastly, the various movies that were made on the ship have never done full justice to the actual happenings.
I would recommend this book to everyone who wishes to read only about facts pertaining to Titanic sans any love story but lots of heroics of the staff who perished with the ship. A book to ponder upon.
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