Customer Reviews

Titanic: The Last Great Images

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
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I bought this book expecting to find high quality, razor sharp pictures of Titanic, and instead got one full of enlarged video frames- complete with scan lines. In fact,at first I thought that they might be 3D images because they appeared to be double printed in different colors.

The content of the book is good- but there are a lot of archival images- meaning shots of the liner before she sank- a number of her sister, Olympic, and pictures of those aboard.

The book is fine for someone buying their first one about Titanic, but to those of us that have been fascinated by her for years, there is little new here.

Ballard does make a good case about how visitors are destroying the ship in different ways, but most of us knew that already.

One gripe I have about ALL the Ballard books. I really don't care about his submarines, his research ships, or his Rovers. Almost every book he writes has at least one chapter about the equipment he used. If he thinks that everyone is so interested in this subject, perhaps he should write a book just concerning that. If I buy a book about the World Series, I don't really care what kind of bus the players rode to the game, or what kind of cameras everyone used to photograph it.

Robert Ballard, the author of "Titanic: The Last Great Images", will ever be associated with the great, lost ship. It was Ballard who was the driving force behind the 1985 expedition that found the sunken vessel, and since then his voice has been steady in its opposition to the destructive exploitation of the wreck.

"Titanic: The Last Great Images" serves in part as an account of his 2004 return to the site to make further explorations with Remotely Operated Vehicles equipped with high resolution television cameras. Many of the photographs in the book -- "the last great images" -- stem from that mission. They are intensely powerful images, documenting in extraordinary detail the present condition of the wreck. Ballard is sharply, although not stridently, critical of damage done over the previous two decades by other expeditions, perhaps more the result of accidents rather than deliberate intent, but destructive nonetheless. The damage is worst in those areas most frequently visited by such expeditions, but Ballard is quick to point out that even natural processes, left to themselves, will eventually reduce the wreck to a pile of unrecognizable debris (hence, I suppose, the notion of these images being "the last"), perhaps in a century's time. But Ballard does not merely report woe; he notes that the extent of damage is not as great as some have claimed and that the reduced pace of visiting expeditions has meant less damage being inflicted. Ballard's great hope, firmly expressed in this book, is that legal action will be undertaken to protect the wreck from human activity, and that steps might eventually be made towards preserving it from extensive natural decay, so that someday it might serve as an underwater marine museum, visited only through the medium of robot vehicles. It is a great dream.

If you are a Titanic junkie like myself, you'll find this latest book from Robert Ballard, finder of Titanic, to be essential. New and haunting images from the debris feild and decaying wreck never fail to stir the emotions. A definite must have.

This book is the ultimate Titanic book!!! The pictures are so clear and vibrant it is hard to believe that they are the same wreck site pictures that we all know and love from 1985!! Dr. Ballard is truly a genius! I personnally hope that this really isn't his last Titanic book! But if it is, at least he went out with the greatest book that we could ask for!

This is a lovely book , however I was looking for something that showed a more detailed layout of the interior design of the ship. I would still recommend for those who are real Titanic enthusiasts.

For nearly a hundred years Titanic has rested in the Atlantic, to be discovered by the author, Dr. Robert Ballard, in 1985. Dr. Ballard gave the world some of the first images of the ship under water: nearly twenty years later he returns to the wreck with even more vivid photos, and TITANIC: THE LAST GREAT IMAGES packs in full-page color details perfect for any public lending library strong in Titanic or nautical history. A highly recommended, coffee-table style presentation, it's striking and compelling evidence of the heyday of luxury.

My 13 year old nephew is a huge Titanic buff and I bought this book for him. He loves it! It has great photos and is just a beautiful book to look through.

Good transaction. Great book . Pictures are amazing. My daughter loved it. I got it for her as a Christmas gift . She is eleven and loves titanic history.

Very interesting look at the wreckage of a long ago ship that should not have gone down and refuses to die to this day nearly 100 years later.

From the discovery of the majestic ship, to the outstanding pics, a great story. I could not put the book down.