Building the Titanic: An Epic Tale of the Creation of History's Most Famous Ocean Liner [Hardcover]

Rod Green (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 2005

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

"It took two years to design and three years to build the Titanic before it sailed on its maiden voyage from Southampton, heading for New York in 1912. Much has been written about its sinking; Green offers a detailed account of its design and construction. It was the most modern ship afloat, with radios, electric lighting, elevators, a gymnasium, and a swimming pool. Green writes that the vessel was built using basic techniques that had changed little since the construction of the first iron-hulled ships more than 50 years earlier, even though the Titanic was 10 times the size of the early ships, and that its safety features were woefully inadequate. Green offers details on such subjects as who built the Titanic, its delayed departure and sea trials, and what was to be its Atlantic crossing. The book, with more than 100 photographs and illustrations, is a meticulous account of the ship's construction."

George Cohen Copyright ? American Library Association. All rights reserved

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

It took two years to design and three years to build the Titanic before it sailed on its maiden voyage from Southampton, heading for New York in 1912. Much has been written about its sinking; Green offers a detailed account of its design and construction. It was the most modern ship afloat, with radios, electric lighting, elevators, a gymnasium, and a swimming pool. Green writes that the vessel was built using basic techniques that had changed little since the construction of the first iron-hulled ships more than 50 years earlier, even though the Titanic was 10 times the size of the early ships, and that its safety features were woefully inadequate. Green offers details on such subjects as who built the Titanic, its delayed departure and sea trials, and what was to be its Atlantic crossing. The book, with more than 100 photographs and illustrations, is a meticulous account of the ship's construction. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Readers Digest (November 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762106891
• ISBN-13: 978-0762106899
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,291,945 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Technical Description of the Ship Yet, November 5, 2005

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Building the Titanic: An Epic Tale of the Creation of History's Most Famous Ocean Liner (Hardcover)

All of us know a bit about the voyage of the Titanic. Yet less has been published about the design and construction of the ship. This book begins with a general discussion of the North Atlantic passenger trade from its early days to show why the Titanic was the logical choice for the next ship to be built. From here it goes into the design and construction of the ship. Everything from the boilers, to the double hull are discussed. Numerous photographs show points in the construction and give you a feeling of the giant size of the vessel when men are shown standing next to the truly titanic size of the vessel.

About the last third of the book is on the trip, the rescue and aftermath of the sinking. The story of the impact is well told. The Titanic was designed to float when two watertight compartments were open to the sea. But this impact tore open five compartments. The tear was not big, but it was long, some 300ft. And it was big enough.

There is quite a bit of discussion about the life boats. There was an insufficient number of lifeboats to hold all the people. But the lifeboats that were available often carried only half their rated capacity. Further, the sea was very flat that night, the lifeboats could well have been overloaded and the number of survivors would have been much higher.

This book is very interesting in its details on the ship itself, and the collection of antique photograps is great.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding survey of its actual making and includes plenty of vintage black & white photos & illustrations rich in detail, May 22, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Building the Titanic: An Epic Tale of the Creation of History's Most Famous Ocean Liner (Hardcover)

Plenty of books have been published on the sinking of the Titanic, but this is the first detailed account of how the ship was designed and constructed and provides a haunting view of how it was made and promoted. Where competitors focus on its demise or its voyage, BUILDING THE TITANIC: AN EPIC TALE OF THE CREATION OF HISTORY'S MOST FAMOUS OCEAN LINER is an outstanding survey of its actual making and includes plenty of vintage black and white photos and illustrations rich in detail.

Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars RMS Titanic Construction, February 21, 2006

By 

Robert L. Ross (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Building the Titanic: An Epic Tale of the Creation of History's Most Famous Ocean Liner (Hardcover)

I am very disappointed in the editing of the book, many many typographical errors! Also, the book did not go into detail about the various construction techniques that went into building the ship. I wanted a step by step process especially in the interior construction of the cabins and public rooms, i.e. construction from the bulkhead/exterior skin, insulation, woodwork, plastering, wiring, plumbing etc.