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It was the beginning of a life-long obsession with the Titanic. For some reason I never sought it out in bookstores, since I thought for no good reason that it was a rare item.The book is profusely illustrated mainly with contemporary drawings, paintings, and photographs.
By the time you're done you feel like you got a real picture of the event. These are logically arranged through the text and flesh out the story, adding to the already stirring drama of the text.
When I first read A Night to Remember it was a very thin Bantam edition that would fit in your pocket, and I don't know why I picked it up, unless it was the painting on the cover of the ship raising its stern above the water. In any case, I found a paperback edition of the illustrated edition in the library and borrowed it countless times.
This book is a keeper. Well, that would be an attraction for a 12-year old boy already fascinated by history and the sea (although, specifically, naval warfare).
I'm not sure how many times I read that book, but I could quote from it.
It made you feel like you were there. I also liked how he brought out the feelings of the actual people who experienced this tragedy. I recommend this book to anyone who has a moderate interest in the history of the Titanic. This book was well researched. I enjoyed the almost minute to minute details this author presented of the sinking.
Its pacing, style, and most importantly its factual underpinning make it a timeless classic, I just re-read Night to Remember for the first time in many years, and was reminded why it got me hooked on Titanic lore. It is truly the definitive book on Titanic and one of the best works of narrative history ever written.
Now it's obvious where lots of information came from that appears in later Titanic books. I enjoyed the book.
Hart, Eva's Mother, spent her nights awak and days asleep as if a premonition of this ship never making New York City. I don't know why California didn't seek to assist them or inquire about the distress signals. She said her mother, Miriam Hart, lashed back with a comment that has stuck with me for years that when saying the ship is unsinkable is like tempting fate to occur. Despite the horrors, what shocked me was the situation in the lifeboats in the aftermath of shell-shocked people who have watched their loved ones, mostly their husbands, go down with the ship.
When the Carpathia arrived to pick up the survivors, they are shocked by the news that Titanic is gone and they are the only ones to tell a shocking story of so many people's last moments on earth. The third class passengers never enjoyed it. The second and first class passengers must have felt like they were in heaven with first class service catered to their needs and fancies. Rest in Peace, Titanic, and all those who have sailed with you on that fateful trip. Walter Lord did his homework on the Titanic's fateful night in this unforgettable and memorable book. He did not need to create fiction or suggest anything to the contrary. Forget James Cameron's movie, this book is real and faithful to those fifteen hundred men, women, and children who perished as it is to the survivors who never recovered fully. The ship had to be fast, unsinkable, and yet the disaster was unthinkable.
I remember survivor Eva Hart who lost her father in the disaster that it was all about arrogance. This story was not included in this book but Walter Lord does his best and it's remarkable that he prefers facts to rumors or gossip. You will always be in my heart as the ship of dreams and destiny. The Titanic was the ultimate ship and none has ever come close in the ship's genius, magnificience, style, and sophistication. Because of the Titanic disaster, every ship since was required by international shipping law to have enough lifeboats for everybody on ship and supplies during the worst of disasters. It has taken me years to read this book maybe because of all those who perished still resonate with the Titanic's ultimate fate.
In fact, he writes about it from the survivor's perspectives. Mrs. Where they embarked for their final destination to New York City but most of them would never make it there. We'll never know what makes people ignore others in time of great distress. The last pages of the book are the names of those who died and survived.
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