The Riddle of the Titanic [Paperback]

Robin Gardiner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 1996

Ten years after the first exploration of the Titanic wreck two and a half miles under the north Atlantic, and eighty-four years after she sank, Robin Gardiner and Dan van der Vat reappraised the legendary maritime disaster. Why was the man at the helm when the Titanic hit the iceberg packed off to South Africa? Why did her reluctant Chief Officer 'still' feel uneasy about a ship on which he had never sailed before? Why did one of her stewards 'wish the bally ship at the bottom of the sea'? It was not only the sea that covered up the Titanic ...

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Orion Books (June 3, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752801678
• ISBN-13: 978-0752801674
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,985,743 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Hard to read, yet disturbing book, March 29, 2000

By 

Harry George - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Riddle of the "Titanic" (Hardcover)

I bought this book at an airport thinking it would be a light read, not so, there is simply so much information to take in - which really works against the book, I might add.

In essence it pieces together various eyewitness accounts of the tragedy, and looks at the two enquiries launched on both sides of the Atlantic.

There are two authors to this book, one whom advocates a conspiracy theory that the Titanic was swapped with her sister ship the Olympic for the purpose of insurance fraud, the other certainly believes none of it.

Whatever the truth is, it seems likely that there was some measfeasance on the part of the White Star Line and it makes very interesting reading peering into it's ultra complicated ownership structure which veiled the true owner, JP Morgan.

What works against the book is its difficulty to read, it just does not flow properly and I found myself skipping pages which seemed to repeat the same information over and over again.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and thorough research with a twist, August 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Riddle of the "Titanic" (Hardcover)

In the preface of this remarkable book, the two joint authors agree to disagree about an astonishing hypothesis - that the "Titanic" which sank in 1912 was in fact the sister ship "Olympic", switched for sinister reasons. A far fetched notion, but certainly worth considering in the light of recent evidence. The book also contains a thorough analysis of the two Boards of Inquiry, and reconsiders the case against Captain Lord in great detail. A provisional passenger list is imcluded, and copious footnotes and references make this an essential book for those who thought that James Cameron's film told the full story

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A total failure, August 18, 2005

By 

Paolo Piccardo (SAVONA, SV Italy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Riddle of the Titanic (Paperback)

As a Marine Officer i feel disgusted to read such a lot of nonsense, misunderstandings and a totally wrong idea on the practical navigation and life at sea.The idea of a substitution of Titanic by Olympic is absurd,those ships were not nice and small toys,but huge stuff,and with a lot of people on board.
It is also insulting the description of the figure of Master,who did all his best according His experience,the Company policy and sea tradition.I talked with many mariners all over the world,none of them would have acted differently from Smith.Furthermore my copy was plagued by a ludicrous italian translation,according which ,for instance,Olympic became a "oil tanker" after the conversion to "oil firing".Forget this book.