I have always been interested in the Titanic disaster and have read extensively about it. This book is another in my quest to puzzle out what happened, how, and why. It is non-fiction about the rescue effort and aftermath of the night the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank. It focuses on the ships that responded (or did not), the rescue of the passengers, and both the American and British inquiries in the aftermath. Butler does not recount the timeline of events on the Titanic itself. There are many other books that cover this information in detail. My favorite is A Night to Remember by Walter Lord, which I highly recommend. Butler instead tackles the calls for assistance, the actions of the responding ships, and the rescue efforts. I was interested to read it as I have always wondered why the Californian, the closest, did not come to the aid of the Titanic. How can a ship’s officers see a distress signal and ignore it?

This book is well-structured. It starts with a short history of maritime travel between Europe and America, the development of wireless communications, and the background of the Carpathia and Californian. It then moves into the experience and temperament of the primary players. The author pays specific attention to the captains of the Carpathia and Californian, Arthur Rostron and Stanley Lord, and their contrasting styles of leadership. Butler’s analysis is clear and logical. He expresses strong opinions and does so articulately. Even when not agreeing completely, I could follow his train of thought. I wish he had included footnotes along the way rather than a solely a list of sources and bibliography at the end.

After reading this book, I feel I have gotten a good sense of what the record shows regarding the action or inaction at the time of the emergency. Some will rise to the occasion and address the challenge while others will do nothing and deny responsibility. It is impossible, of course, to get one hundred percent clarity with an event this long in the past, and with conflicting memories of witnesses, but when reading many sources, the big picture eventually emerges. I feel like Butler has added valuable insights and has provided a plausible answer to my question. Of course, it won’t be the last book I read about the Titanic.

Recommended to those interested in maritime history and, of course, those specifically interested in the Titanic. ( )

4.25 stars

This is a book about the sinking of the Titanic, but more from the points of view of two of the closest ships that night. In fact, one of them – the Californian – was within sight distance and saw the distress rockets go up… and the captain, Stanley Lord, didn’t do anything. He was a very authoritarian captain and his subordinates didn’t feel that they could go against him. Further away (unfortunately a full 4 hours or so), was another ship – the Carpathia – whose captain, Arthur Rostron, immediately set sail as fast as the Carpathia had ever gone in her life to get to the Titanic as soon as possible. It was the Carpathia who plucked as many survivors as she could out of the lifeboats to safety.

This was really good. I’m sure I must have read snippets about these other ships in the other Titanic books I’ve read, but I don’t recall details from those books, though I knew the names of the ships. This was very detailed from those points of view. Leading up to the disaster, this also looked at brief biographies of the captains and a bit of history of the ship/cruise and wireless industries. There was also a close look at the inquiries afterward, both in the US and in Britain to get to the bottom of what happened that night. ( )

This is part of my attempt to read a little more than crime fiction: so this is history and non crime fiction.

It is a very compelling account of what happened on the night of April 14/15 1912, when the unsinkable Titanic sank. It is strongly read, although there are passage that I suspect in the book were accompanied by maps and charts, and so the technical details would have been clearer. Nevertheless the account is very clear, almost vindictive, not just an account of what happened but an attempt to explain why it happened.

Like both the official inquiries, the author concludes that Captain Smith of the Titanic was not sufficiently cautious given that he was entering an ice field, and therefore must take some of the blame for the loss of life. The inadequacy of the life boat provision was a major cause of loss of life, plus the fact that the Titanic sent some boats off only half full, and the fact that they had no clear life boat drill, because of course the Titanic was assumed to be unsinkable. He concludes that the Carpathia was just too far away to get there in time, but that the Californian, though closer, could not have got there in time to pick up all the Titanic's passengers. Nevertheless he claims that a further 300 lives could have been saved.

The loss of the Titanic resulted in considerable changes in safety regulations particularly in relation to provision of life boats, 24 hr radio watches, and clarification of distress signals.

The arguments are well presented and well supported. Makes very interesting reading. ( )

The events of the Titanic as seen from the perspectives of two other nearby ships, one that responded to the distress call (the Carpathia) & one that didn't (the Californian).

The loss of the Titanic remains one of the worst disasters in history even 100 years later. It's such a monumental event that it feels as if it existed in a pause in Time. But of course, it didn't, & that is what Butler examines here.

He covers the history of Atlantic crossings, the development of Marconi's radio system, the growth of the companies that made all 3 ships, & even the personal histories of some of the key men aboard the vessels traversing the North Atlantic that fateful night. All of these factor in to the outcome of that night as much as the iceberg the Titanic hit.

The goings-on of neighboring vessels was nothing I ever considered. Something else I never considered was that a vessel within eyesight of the distress flares sent up by the Titanic would ignore the call for help. But that's exactly what happened, & Butler walks the reader through the night and the subsequent hearings explaining it all.

It's a sharp contrast between Capt Rostron of the Carpathia & Capt Lord of the Californian. One is clearly a hero, the other, a sociopath. One crew was called upon to be heroes themselves. The other was paralyzed by fear of their captain. Literally, the fate of thousands of people was at stake, & time was against everyone. Even under the best circumstances, there would be a loss of life. The stakes were as high as they could be. At the end of the night, one man could say he did all he could do, & he had 700 extra passengers to prove it. The other would have a stack of affidavits obtained from his crew at gunpoint.

This is a great read for anyone with an interest in history, and for Titanic buffs, it's a must.

( )

This was a fascinating account of two ships that were in the vicinity of the Titanic on the night she hit an iceberg and sank. It is a story I was largely unfamiliar with, though I was aware the Carpathia had picked up the survivors of the disaster. What I did not know, and what forms the heart of this well-researched and detailed narrative, was that there was another ship very close to the Titanic, a ship whose captain failed to respond to the distress signals.

This is not quite narrative nonfiction, with a definite story arc, but it was a compelling read listen. I learned a lot about maritime practices, laws, and traditions, as well as the back stories of some of the key figures whose names are mostly forgotten. The section dealing with the wireless distress calls and the Carpathia's dash through the night to reach the doomed liner was especially gripping. After finishing the audio, I immediately turned to Wikipedia to learn more, a sure sign of a good read. ( )