He never recovered from the Titanic and lived out the rest of his life solitarily in Ireland. The one thing I learned about a passenger that I hadn’t heard before was about Bruce Ismay. There wasn’t a lot of characterization in this book which was fine with the ‘hard facts’ mood that Lord picked. The crew is an often-forgotten group as well but Lord did them tribute. I’m glad he focused on people of all classes instead of on the first class ‘glamorous’ experience. It helped make this slim volume very engaging. He didn’t weigh down in the loading, construction, or investigations. I enjoyed that he stuck to a set time frame, the night of the sinking. Thankfully, Lord stuck to facts and this book was a wonderfully detailed account. However, finding the wreckage changed a lot of ‘known’ facts about the sinking. I know that sounds silly when it’s about such a historic event. I wasn’t sure if this would feel dated to me. Wives beseeched husbands to join them in lifeboats gentlemen went taut-lipped to their deaths in full evening dress and hundreds of steerage passengers, trapped below decks, sought help in vain. Some sacrificed their lives, while others fought like animals for their own survival. First published in 1955, A Night to Remember remains a completely riveting account of the Titanic’s fatal collision and the behavior of the passengers and crew, both noble and ignominious.
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