Voyagers of the Titanic: Passengers, Sailors, Shipbuilders, Aristocrats, and the Worlds They Came From

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Product Description “An astonishing work.”—Julian Fellowes, Creator and Executive Producer of “Downton Abbey” “A book well worthy of marking the centenary of the crystal-clear night when the immense ship slid to her terrible doom.”—Simon Winchester, New York Times bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman It has been one hundred years since the sinking of the passenger liner Titanic in the North Atlantic, yet worldwide fascination with the epic tragedy remains as strong as ever. With Voyagers of the Titanic, Richard Davenport-Hines gives us a magnificent history of the people intimately connected with the infamous ship—from deal-makers and industry giants, like J.P. Morgan, who built and operated it; to Molly Brown, John Jacob Astor IV, and other glittering aristocrats who occupied its first class cabins; to the men and women traveling below decks hoping to find a better life in America. Commemorating the centennial anniversary of the great disaster, Voyagers of the Titanic offers a fascinating, uniquely original view of one of the most momentous catastrophes of the 20th century. From Booklist As the centennial of the sinking of the Titanic nears, expect a rush of books and articles. As before, it is likely that many of them will inflate the historical importance of the disaster, imparting meaning where none exists. Hines, a biographer and journalist, pays the usual homage to these efforts by stressing the class divisions aboard ship and the illusions of technological supremacy shattered by the power of nature. He offers interesting explanations of the formation of icebergs, ship design, and the nature of transatlantic travel. His account rises above most others in his concentration upon those who died and those who survived what was, after all, a vast collection of individual human tragedies. He describes individuals from each of three designated classes of travel. Although we learn little new about the superrich in first class, Hines avoids taking cheap shots at them. The vignettes covering those in second and third class are especially moving, as Hines stresses the hopes of many to begin a new life in America. This is a well-done and creative retelling of a still-riveting story. --Jay Freeman Review “Here at last is the true memorial ... a book well worthy of marking the centenary of the crystal-clear night when the immense ship slid to her terrible doom” (Simon Winchester) “An astonishing work, of meticulous research, which allows us to know, in painful detail, the men and women on that fateful voyage. Even now, a hundred years later, Mr. Davenport-Hines finds a new, and heart-breaking, story to tell.” (Julian Fellowes, Creator and Executive Producer of "Downton Abbey") “Paints a provocative portrait of the “upstairs, downstairs” social stratification in play aboard the doomed ship. A-” (Entertainment Weekly) “The story of the Titanic has been told many times; this one takes a sociological perspective, with the confident, graceful prose of fine fiction.” (Wall Street Journal) “Impressive in both its writing and reporting... It’s a romp. You don’t know who will be strolling down the deck next.” (USA Today) “A shattering human story that is also, when told as well as Davenport-Hines tells it, utterly compelling.” (Sunday Times (UK), lead review) “Eloquent and absorbing… It will stay afloat long after the armada of other Titanic books have gone down.” (The Telegraph (UK)) “This will not be the last book on the Titanic, but it is a safe bet that there will not be a better.” (The Spectator (UK), lead review) “Meticulous... detailed account.” (Women's Wear Daily.com) “This intelligent book focuses not on the ship so much as its passengers. Bolstered by photographs of the people who built, staffed, sailed on and survived the Titanic, Davenport-Hines finds a slew of new points of view from which to scan history.” (Denver Post) From the Back Cover Late in the night of April 14, 1912, the mighty Titan