The Titanic: Disaster of the Century

By: Wyn Craig Wade

Narrated by: 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

Critic reviews

"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.

Titanic

The iceberg that punctured the hull of the Titanic was merely the instrument of her sinking and not the cause; the great ship was struck down by hubris. She was too big, too fast, too grotesquely luxurious to survive. As in all horrific calamities, there was not a single cause, but many, and as fate pushed all the final pieces into place, there could be only one outcome.

Author Wyn Wade pins the perps squarely to the wall, exposing the greed and overarching hubris of all concerned in the design, construction, and operation of the grand ship. As one sage unwisely remarked at the outset of her doomed voyage, "Not even God Himself could sink this ship." Little else need be said.

Robertson Dean's narration is outstanding. His emulation of British accents that seemed to annoy some reviewers is a triviality.

An excellent overview of the disaster and it’s aftermath

Using witness testimony the author puts together the disaster. The book also goes over the US investigation into the sinking and the rescue of some of the passengers,

Incredibly Detailed

Great book for audio listening as it had so much detail it would have easily bored me to read. As such, I was able to listen and Google more info on people or ships simultaneously. I enjoyed it a lot. And it is always a sober reminder of how hubris plays such a huge role.