Customer Reviews

The Titanic Disaster Hearings: The Official Transcripts of the 1912 Senate Investigation (Ultimate Classics)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've slowly gathered more and more information about the Titanic disaster and this book gives voices to those old photos we've all seen. It truly is an unfolding of human drama and you can feel the frustration and tension in the questions and answers. I found myself reading the answers in a British accent! Not only do these transcripts add a personal dimension to the characters, but they also give first-hand accounts and facts, facts, facts. I love that!

I am a fourteen year old fanatic on the subject of the Titanic, and I feel that this is the ultimate book of the Titanic disaster. A real infomative book that any Titanic buff should own. This book is a real bible of the disaster of the century. It discusses issues, and topics that weren't quite heard about before. It is a factual recollection from passengers and crew as the recount the sights and sounds of that fatefull night in April of 1912, with an interesting intro by the author, Tom Kuntz. I like the fact that this book displays very interesting statistic at the end of the text. Sometimes there are parts that you would really like answers to but the "interviewees" can't remember them, that could be frustrating if your like me (wanting the scoop on every little detail). Anyway I love this book and am really glad it is a part of my Titanic collection.

This is the Titanic book you are looking for. Far from being one of the many novelizations or non-fiction novel type history reports, this is testimony straight from the survivor's mouths about what happened the night disaster struck. We are all familiar with C-Span senate hearings of the past few decades, but this is one of the interesting ones condensed into an exciting and informative volume. Questioning began mere days after the accident as the Carpathia pulled into New York with the few souls who made it. Even the slightly repetative nature of the senator's questions from person to person revealed a new fact or two about the sinking of the unsinkable ship.
For those whose knowledge of the Titanic comes mostly from James Cameron, this volume is a wealth of first hand information that didn't get covered in the blockbuster film. Most shocking was that the ship, the Californian, was within sight of the Titanic and saw her distress rockets but didn't come to her aid, even though they could have gotten there before the ship sank. This volume also covers other interesting aspects of the case like the yellow journalism practiced as papers vied for exclusive rights to stories, Bruce Ismay trying to get everyone on a ship back to England before they could be questioned in America and The Wall Street Journal giving false reports that Titanic was fine so that certain stocks didn't plummet. Many of the controversial aspects of the case are addressed to a satisfactory degree, but you can see some pat answers and bet hedging in some of the testimony.
Fascinating Stuff!

This book is imposible to put down! The real stories by the survivors themselves. As I read other books on the Titanic I often find myself wondering back to this book for references. I am planning to read the book again in case I missed anything the first time. I am not much for reading but I was still trying to find time to read it even if it was for a minute. The editors introduction to each interview is very informative and helpful! I wish they had had video cameras in 1912 just so I could witness the true thing but this book is definetly good enough. At times it is a very emotional, and at other times it is exciting when Senator Smith barks down an interviewee. This is where the legendary stories originated from. I would have given it 6 stars but... A must read for any Titanic buff!!!

This is a VERY interesting book. I have just started reading it, and I can't put it down! I am only 11, and you would think a 11 yr old would fall to sleep with boredom reading it. Reading it, you feel as if you were there, and you just want to burst out in tears of sadness. Worth every cent, I recommend it to anyone who can read, from ages 12 to 1000! Go on, get it!

I have been reading Titanic material for about 3 years now, and this was by far the best, most informative and straightforward account. This is the story, told by eyewitnesses, just days after the disaster. No fictional characters, no romance, just bone-chilling descriptions. Although it is in the format of questions and answers, it is an easy read and riveting for the most part (I did get a little bored by all the testimony regarding the Marconi telegraph system, and whether or not the wireless operators from the Titanic and Carpathia should have been paid for their exclusive stories). I might recommend this book to someone who is already familiar with the story of the Titanic - all the persons and details can get a bit confusing without a general background. This book certainly doesn't clear up any of the confusion about the details that night - but it is a fascinating insight into how so many people can experience the same thing and come away with different impressions. This is a piece of history in itself.

For people wishing to know more about the Titanic aftermath, this is your book. This not fictions or guesses, this is the actual Official transcripts of the 1912 Senate Investigations.
Excellent insight to the first hand personal accounts by the people themselves gives you a clearer understanding of the domino effect that caused the disaster.

Excellent reference work.

This book is over 500 pages, but I raced through it in a day. The factual data is the best!! So many questions were answered for me. Readers will discover how the steerage passengers were treated. Furthermore, the survivors come to life with their first hand accounts of the disaster.. The data on Bruce Ismay, as the head of the White Star Line is fascinating!! Readers will feel like they've been shuttled back to 1912!!

this is a fantastic book, and i hear the book on tape hired 25 actors to play the parts. a historical docudrama in its purest sense.

A digest rather than a complete transcription. Actual survivors' stories about the actual shipwreck (no fiction), it's very good value for little money. Sometimes difficult to read because of pathos, sometimes because of the senators repeating questions [but we owe them a debt for their thoroughness]; I lost sleep and missed my bus-stop because I couldn't stop reading. It keeps to facts as the survivors remembered them, horrible enough, no flights of fancy permitted [or only those the senators didn't notice as such]. I begged to read the parts the editor left out. This digest will do and is overdue; but PLEASE, tell Uncle Sam to republish the entire transcript. Canadian libraries don't own it and any copies in U.S. libraries must be tattered to bits by now.