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37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating and a Great Read, October 6, 2008
I found this book thoroughly researched and historically important; it brings out details about the Titanic saga which have previously been unknown or ignored, and it places the entire story within the larger context of the cutthroat turn-of-the-century shipping industry. It's a well-told story that's a great read.
In the interest of full disclosure, I'm a documentary filmmaker who has worked with John Chatterton and Richie Kohler for over 11 years on multiple projects, including the 2005 Titanic expedition described in this book. I wrote and produced two television documentaries about their discoveries at the Titanic wreck site and subsequent investigations. During that time, I had extensive contact with many of the protagonists in Brad Matsen's account, including former Harland & Wolff employee Tom McCluskie and naval architect Roger Long.
I take issue with a previous review by Daniel Allen Butler, and note that in his review he fails to divulge that he is not exactly a disinterested party, but rather an author with a competing book about Titanic. Mr. Butler also recently panned Jennifer McCarty's book as "yet another book where the authors attempt to attach themselves to the Titanic story..." I have not read Ms. McCarty's book. But it appears that Mr. Butler, whose own Titanic book was published in 1998 (just as the James Cameron film was appearing in theaters), believes he should be the last writer allowed "to cash in on the disaster and the public's apparently insatiable appetite for all things Titanic" (his snide first-line dig at Matsen).
I might be tempted to agree - if there were no new evidence. But new evidence is precisely what Matsen's book is all about. And it delivers a whopper.
While Butler's chief complaint is that Matsen's story lacks "supporting evidence," he completely ignores the two massive pieces of Titanic's double bottom hull that Chatterton and Kohler discovered (and extensively documented) in their final dive to the wreck site in August 2005.
I have spoken to a number of Titanic experts who have scrutinized Chatterton and Kohler's underwater video footage, and they unanimously agree that the 2005 double bottom find is the most significant new evidence since Robert Ballard found the wreck in 1985.
This is physical evidence, previously never analyzed, that we now know comes from the exact point where the ship broke. As Matsen explains, to someone who can read the signs, the edges where the steel fractured tell the tale of how the ship came apart. This leads Roger Long and others to the conclusion that Titanic did not rise high in the air (as shown in the famous scene in the Cameron film), but rather broke apart while still relatively horizontal.
To experts, a low-angle breakup raised an ominous question: should a ship built for service on the stormy North Atlantic have been able to withstand the angle at which Titanic broke? In other words: was the ship strong enough? To me, Matsen makes a convincing case that in light of the newest evidence, this is this is at least a legitimate question to ask.
Mr. Butler attacks Matsen's premise that "there were design flaws and engineering compromises which were known and accepted by Harland and Wolff while Titanic was being built." Matsen offers ample evidence to support this argument: contemporary accounts that Thomas Andrews originally called for thicker steel in his design, proof that Titanic's sister Olympic suffered cracking in early service (and that Harland & Wolff added additional steel to correct the problem), and additional evidence that Chatterton and Kohler uncovered during an expedition to the third sister Britannic in 2006.
Engineers with whom I've spoken make the point that compromises are part of every design. It's easy to make something excessively strong but commercially impractical; the challenge is finding the smart compromise, making it just strong enough yet still affordable to build and operate in the real world. That involves trade-offs. And that is where Matsen says Titanic's builders cut it just a little too close.
Mr. Butler also assails Matsen's treatment of Tom McCluskie. In my experience, Tom is a man of pronounced good humor, with a sharp ironic wit. Tom has told me of his health difficulties following his stroke, and various restrictions imposed by his doctor as a result. I don't find Matsen's account to unfairly paint a picture of "bitterness" toward Harland & Wolff, nor to depict what Tom has said as a "deathbed confession."
As dramatic as Tom's assertions are, Matsen has not relied on McCluskie as his only source; he has done historical homework. (How many non-fiction books for the popular market include End Notes these days? "Titanic's Last Secrets" does, and they are extensive and scrupulously detailed).
To me, Brad Matsen makes a compelling case that, whatever the actual structural strength of Titanic, in 1912 Harland & Wolff had every reason to believe that their ship had broken because it was too weak - and that, acting on that belief, they covered up what they thought about the breakup. That's certainly what Tom McCluskie told me and others, and what Harland & Wolff's actions after the sinking seem to indicate.
I urge anyone interested in Titanic, or history in general, to read this book. In my career I've been fortunate to talk with men who walked on the moon, men who sailed U-boats in Hitler's navy, men who created Mission Control - and men who dive shipwrecks. And there's one thing I've learned: "history," even about a subject as familiar as Titanic, is a work in progress; there's always more to be learned - sometimes a lot more. Matsen's excellent book is a powerful reminder of that enduring truth.
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27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The fascination about the Titanic continues, September 26, 2008
Titanic. All one has to do is utter the name of the world's most infamous unsinkable ship and imagery, myth, and legend-sans James Cameron-pops into mind.
The world was mesmerized when Dr. Robert Ballard and his team located the wreckage in 1985. And not since Charles Pellegrino's 1990 classic, Her Name Titanic: The Untold Story of the Sinking and Finding of the Unsinkable Ship, has there been a great book about the Olympic-class ship. On the other hand, since Ballard et al., first glimpsed the rusting wreckage there had been nothing thing new to report. Until now. Get ready to unearth one of the greatest historical cover-ups of the twentieth century.
It's not clear how author Brad Matsen came to be involved with writing a completely absorbing narrative of the divers' adventures and findings. Regardless, Matsen's new book, Titanic's Last Secrets: The Further Adventures of Shadow Divers John Chatteron and Richie Kohler can take its place as the definitive answer to the world's most unanswerable question: Why did Titanic sink as quickly as she did?
In 2005, Deep Sea Detectives John Chatteron and Richie Kohler stacked their finances and reputations on the report of one man who claimed to have seen new evidence that the majestic ship's last hours were not at all what we had imagined and that it did not sink exactly as we have come to believe. David Concannon had seen "ribbons of steel that looked like they had been peeled from the ship" in Titan's debris field. He had no real proof, only what he had seen. Chatteron and Kohler took a plunge (no pun intended) in an effort to discover, once and for all, how and why Titanic sunk.
The book's subtitle is a little misleading. Chatteron and Kohler almost take a back seat to Titanic's mesmerizing personality. The book is divided into three sections: "Shipwreck," "Dreams," and "Secrets." From what Chatteron and Kohler discover, Martsen weaves the mystery effortlessly that results in an amazing work.
I'm dying to tell you what they learned, but I hate reviewers who spoil an ending. A little hint though: the biggest scene in the movie is wrong.
Armchair Interviews says: If the Titanic has always intrigued you, this is a must-read.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Miserable., January 2, 2009
I'm just a reader who has a general interest in things technical, and diving and the Titanic; unlike several other reviewers here, I have no financial interest in any of this other than as a dissappointed reader (and purchaser!) of this book....
The first part of this book, relating the missteps and successes of a mission to find out something new about Titanic, is relatively interesting and definitely well told: it's a fun and engaging read. Unfortunately, while lots of space is devoted to the tale of the expedition, the new theory regarding the sinking is poorly explained, and there are no illustrations to help with conceptualizing the new theory. The two drawings of the newly imaged wreckage are interesting, but lack context and are barely discussed in the text; most importantly, the key attributes of the wreckage that lead to and support the new theory are not identified on the drawings. (In fact, key landmarks such as the all-important keel and bilge keels are not identified, either.) It's not clear where this wreckage originated on the ship; for that matter, this book is woefully short of plans/drawings of the Titanic and her wreckage.
The second part of the book, the historic re-telling, is downright annoying. This section is presented in narative form, explained in the notes as having been reconstructed from a large number of sources, with some liberty taken with the dialog. But many things presented as key facts (such as decisions about design changes and observations on sea trials) are only supported by, and fully derrived from, the uncorroborated recollections of a possibly bitter ex-employee of the shipbuilder. Other elements presented as facts (such as who made the decision as to number of life boats and the materials specifications) are contrary to sworn testimony, though in line with the recollections of the ex-employee. Further, there are unexplained inconsistencies, or at least changes through time: at some points, the owner of the shipbuilding firm has the head of White Star in his pocket, while at other points, the head of White Star is making the key decisions, decisions which would be counter to the interest of the shipbuilder. The relationship between these two men is key to the charges brought in this book, yet the change over time -- or even if there was a change -- is not addressed.
Lastly, this book just sort of ends without putting the new theory into any sort of context; most importantly, existing factual analysis (such as the behavior of Titanic's steel in cold water and the slag in her rivets) is completely ignored and not even mentioned. Very little space is allocated to discussing the implications of the new theory regarding loss of life in the disaster: there is a great deal of disagreement in the professional community over whether the core issue of the new theory contributed to greater loss of life, and the author completely ignores this disagreement and presents a very one-sided conclusion.
As I wrap up this review, something else occurs to me: in the early part of the mission, the team is steered wrong by someone they actually know, and know to have impeccable credentials. This person gave the team actionable information which was investigated and proved inaccurate. However, later in the mission, the team (and author) rely completely on the word of the ex-employee -- a person they do not have any prior relationship with -- and there is no indication that either the team or author took any effort to verify this person's information. Could the team have been steered wrong by a second person, a person who they didn't know, and who's information is unverifiable? Hmmmm.
Overall, this is a very dissappointing book: it's a quick read, definitely engaging, but built on a poor foundation with the key parts being devoid of sufficient support to label this non-fiction.
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