cover image Titanic, Destination Disaster: The Legends and the Reality

Titanic, Destination Disaster: The Legends and the Reality

John P. Eaton. W. W. Norton & Company, $14.95 (160pp) ISBN 978-0-393-30492-3

The authors' opening chapters cover the Titanic's 1912 sinking after colliding with an iceberg. Then the narrative sails backward in time to log the ship's entire storyfrom construction and outfitting to trial runs, provisioning (with itemized lists of cutlery, foodstuffs and linen), booking of passengers, maiden voyage and the subsequent investigations and lawsuits. The final chapter elaborates on efforts to locate the Titanic, which were recently successful. While this tightly written, fact-filled account combines ""new historical details'' with past documentation and research, and succeeds on that level, the work is eclipsed by the 130 illustrations, which provide a step-by-step story in pictures of the liner's short life, including shots of the near-collision at Southampton with the New York, views of survivors in lifeboats approaching the Carpathia and pictures of the Woods Hole expedition. (October)