When That Great Ship Went Down
The Legal and Political Repercussions of the Loss of RMS Titanic
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When That Great Ship Went Down
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Narrated by:
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Stan Jenson
About this listen
RMS Titanic sank in 1912, a US presidential election year, and in the very first days of the great House of Commons debate on Home Rule for Ireland. The Marconi companies were heroes to the press and the public, who credited them with saving the lives that were saved. JP Morgan, who owned the shipping trust that controlled Titanic's White Star Line, was a major political target for the trust-busters. And members of the British Cabinet, including the Attorney-General who was to direct (and nobble) the Crown's case in the Titanic enquiry, were up to their necks in inside trading in Marconi shares.
This is the story of how, in Titanic's loss, 1500 souls were sacrificed to the "settled science" and "scientific consensus" of marine engineering. It is also the story of how the US and British loss enquiries were shaped by party politics, corrupted by corrupt politicians and the Marconi Scandal, tainted by the politics of Irish Home Rule, and - finally - salvaged by Oliver Wendell Holmes and the US Supreme Court, and by Lord Mersey's judgement in the Board of Trade Enquiry and the subsequent International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea.
Titanic sank a century ago; but she sails on, the ghost ship of modern law and politics, shaping our world in ways we don't notice.
©2012, 2013 Bapton Books for GMW Wemyss & Markham Shaw Pyle (P)2013 Bapton BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 85
John Jay was a central figure in the early history of the American Republic. A New York lawyer, born in 1745, Jay served his country with the greatest distinction, and was one of the most influential of its Founding Fathers. In this first full-length biography of John Jay in almost 70 years, Walter Stahr brings Jay vividly to life, setting his astonishing career against the background of the American Revolution. Drawing on substantial new material, Walter Stahr has written a full and highly enjoyable portrait of both the public and private man.
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5 out of 5 stars
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balanced
- By Bob on 04-06-24
By: Walter Stahr
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The Modern Scholar
- The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin
- By: Professor H.W. Brands
- Narrated by: H.W. Brands
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 141
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 106
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 108
This course examines the life of Benjamin Franklin and his influence on both American and world history. He remains the model of the American thinker - a man who was interested in nearly everything, and who pursued those interests with an admirable and contagious passion. To study Franklin's life is to learn not only the history of a single man, but to understand some of the most monumental changes in all of human history.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Love it
- By Holly on 02-20-16
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The Supreme Court
- By: William H. Rehnquist
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 79
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 71
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
Chief Justice Rehnquist's engaging writing illuminates both the high and low points in the Court's history, from Chief Justice Marshall's dominance of the Court during the early 19th century through the landmark decisions of the Warren Court. Citing cases such as the Dred Scott decision and Roosevelt's Court-packing plan, Rehnquist makes clear that the Court does not operate in a vacuum, that the justices are unavoidably influenced by their surroundings, and that their decisions have real and lasting impacts on our society.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Absorbing
- By Jean on 01-28-18
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James Madison
- A Life Reconsidered
- By: Lynne Cheney
- Narrated by: Eliza Foss
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 723
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 652
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Story4 out of 5 stars 647
A major new biography of the fourth US president, from New York Times best-selling author Lynne Cheney. James Madison was a true genius of the early republic, the leader who did more than any other to create the nation we know today. This majestic new biography tells his story. Outwardly reserved, Madison was the intellectual driving force behind the Constitution. His visionary political philosophy was a crucial factor behind the Constitution’s ratification, and his political savvy was of major importance in getting the new government underway.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Great man, great ideas, muddling book
- By NDFletch on 06-13-15
By: Lynne Cheney
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Infamy
- Pearl Harbor and Its Aftermath
- By: John Toland
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 300
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 271
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 270
A revealing and controversial account of the events surrounding Pearl Harbor. Pulitzer Prize - winning author John Toland presents evidence that FDR and his top advisors knew about the planned Japanese attack but remained silent. Infamy reveals the conspiracy to cover up the facts and find scapegoats for the greatest disaster in United States military history. New York Times best-seller.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Revisionist History
- By Richard Karpusiewicz on 07-28-21
By: John Toland
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Common Sense
- By: Thomas Paine
- Narrated by: Adrian Cronauer
- Length: 1 hr and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 223
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 109
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 109
This pamphlet, first published in 1776, set in print the word every American was thinking about, but none dared say: independence! It was published anonymously in New York, selling 120,000 copies in the first 3 months and half a million in that same year. Its author, Thomas Paine, wrote in a language that could be understood by any reasonably literate colonist. But more important than it being so well received, is that it captured the American colonists' imaginations and was a primary catalyst to the independence movement in the United States. Noted American historian Bernard Bailyn called it "the most brilliant pamphlet written during the American Revolution, and one of the most brilliant ever written in the English language."
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4 out of 5 stars
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revolutionary ideas for sure
- By reggie p on 08-20-03
By: Thomas Paine
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The World Remade
- America in World War I
- By: G. J. Meyer
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 24 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 370
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 332
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 331
After years of bitter debate, the United States declared war on Imperial Germany on April 6, 1917, plunging the country into the savage European conflict that would redraw the map of the continent - and the globe. The World Remade is an engrossing chronicle of America's pivotal, still controversial intervention into World War I, encompassing the tumultuous politics and towering historical figures that defined the era and forged the future.
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5 out of 5 stars
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"100% America" - a disturbing place to be
- By DPM on 04-01-17
By: G. J. Meyer
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Scorpions
- The Battles and Triumphs of FDR's Great Supreme Court Justices
- By: Noah Feldman
- Narrated by: Cotter Smith
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 362
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 287
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 283
They began as close allies and friends of FDR, but the quest to shape a new Constitution led them to competition and sometimes outright warfare. Scorpions tells the story of four great justices: their relationship with Roosevelt, with each other, and with the turbulent world of the Great Depression, World War II, and the Cold War. It also serves as a history of the modern Constitution itself.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A MOST HONOURABLE SWANSONG
- By Dudley H. Williams on 05-27-12
By: Noah Feldman
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Liberty's First Crisis
- Adams, Jefferson, and the Misfits Who Saved Free Speech
- By: Charles Slack
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Story5 out of 5 stars 31
When the United States government passed the Bill of Rights in 1791, its uncompromising protection of speech and of the press were unlike anything the world had ever seen before. But by 1798, the once-dazzling young republic of the United States was on the verge of collapse. Suddenly, the First Amendment, which protected harsh commentary of the weak government, no longer seemed as practical. So that July, President John Adams and the Federalists in control of Congress passed an extreme piece of legislation that made criticism of the government and its leaders a crime.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Marvelous Book....
- By Douglas on 01-07-17
By: Charles Slack
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Our Man in Charleston
- Britain's Secret Agent in the Civil War South
- By: Christopher Dickey
- Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 178
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 167
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 166
The unlikely man at the roiling center of this intrigue was Robert Bunch, an American-born Englishman who had maneuvered his way to the position of British consul in Charleston, South Carolina, and grew to loathe slavery and the righteousness of its practitioners. Bunch used his unique perch and boundless ambition to become a key player, sending reams of dispatches to the home government and eventually becoming the Crown's best secret source on the Confederacy.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Not a spy novel
- By Michael Battle on 06-21-16
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Founding Rivals
- Madison vs. Monroe, the Bill of Rights, and the Election that Saved a Nation
- By: Chris DeRose
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
In 1789, James Madison and James Monroe ran against each other for Congress-the only time that two future presidents have contested a congressional seat. But what was at stake, as author Chris DeRose reveals in Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, the Bill of Rights, and the Election That Saved a Nation, was more than personal ambition. This was a race that determined the future of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the very definition of the United States of America.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Must for Anyone Interested in the Constitution
- By Garshom L. Arkoff on 07-09-13
By: Chris DeRose
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Desperate Sons
- Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, John Hancock, and the Secret Bands of Radicals Who Led the Colonies to War
- By: Les Standiford
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 69
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 62
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Story4 out of 5 stars 61
More than 200 years ago, a group of British colonists in America decided that the conditions under which they were governed had become intolerable. Angry and frustrated that King George III and the British Parliament had ignored their lawful complaints and petitions, they decided to take action. Knowing that their deeds - often directed at individuals and property - were illegal, and punishable by imprisonment and even death, these agitators plotted and conducted their missions in secret to protect their identities as well as the identities of those who supported them.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Sons of Liberty
- By Jean on 02-21-13
By: Les Standiford
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President Lincoln
- The Duty of a Statesman
- By: William Lee Miller
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 19 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 56
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35
The American president has come to be the most powerful figure in the world. And back in the 19th century, a great man held that office. William Lee Miller's new book closely examines that great man in that hugely important office: Abraham Lincoln as president.
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2 out of 5 stars
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An analysis of Lincoln's life, not a history
- By D. Rairigh on 05-24-09
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John Quincy Adams
- Militant Spirit
- By: James Traub
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 25 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 736
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 650
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 644
John Quincy Adams was the last of his kind - a Puritan from the age of the Founders who despised party and compromise yet dedicated himself to politics and government. The son of John Adams, he was a brilliant ambassador and secretary of state, a frustrated president at a historic turning point in American politics, and a dedicated congressman who literally died in office - at the age of 80, in the House of Representatives, in the midst of an impassioned political debate.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Best narrator of all the audio books I've listened
- By grimm79 on 12-12-17
By: James Traub
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Ratification
- The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788
- By: Pauline Maier
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 23 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 149
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 110
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 111
When the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia adjourned late in the summer of 1787, the delegates returned to their states to report on the new Constitution, which had to be ratified by specially elected conventions in at least nine states. Pauline Maier recounts the dramatic events of the ensuing debate in homes, taverns, and convention halls, drawing generously on the speeches and letters of founding fathers, both familiar and forgotten, on all sides.
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4 out of 5 stars
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History Always Repeats
- By Howard on 08-27-11
By: Pauline Maier