Customer Reviews

Perils of the Atlantic: Steamship Disasters, 1850 to the Present

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William Flayhart's "Perils of the Atlantic: Steamship Disasters, 1850 to the Present" is a well researched and well written book. The reasonable cost is absolutely worth the price to have this little jewel on the bookshelf.

Each chapter describes one ship's life and loss. Some sort of illustration of each ship is provided, though with the early ships, a photo of a model might be the only representation, as is the case with the Collins Line's "Arctic" lost in 1852. Of the 22 chapters, 2 are dedicated to well known stories: the White Star Line's "Titanic" and the Italian Line's "Andrea Doria." Other chapters relate the stories of ships which the names may be familiar, but the stories less so: "Empress of Ireland," "Lusitania," "Morro Castle" and "Seabreeze I" - the raw video footage of the latter in her last hours a favorite on [...]. The gripping stories of the long forgotten 19th century ships, make for excellent reading, no less dramatic, or tragic, than the more recent examples.

It would seem that telling the story of a ship far from land, slowly sinking, the desperate struggle to save the women and children, the valiant self sacrifice of the crew, the priceless cargo disappearing into the depths, would make for easy story telling. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Too many authors are able to drown the reader in tedious technical minutiae and endless back-story. Mr. Flayhart skillfully avoids those traps, balancing ample detail with genuine humanity to make the stories interesting, exciting and poignant. Mr. Flayhart's writing is smooth and seamless.

Since each chapter is a complete and independent story (ranging from 8 to 32 pages), this is a good book for short reads. Highly recommended.