Stackpole Books, 1998, hardcover, illustrated, index, 292 pages, condition: new.
- "A masterful treatment of the Titanic disaster with a new look at the role played by the mystery ship California." --Walter Lord, author of A Night to Remember The first modern work to give a comprehensive picture of the Titanic and the people intertwined with her fate, from disaster to recovery. Drawn from primary sources and contemporary accounts, this new narrative allows readers to come to their own conclusions about this legendary vessel.
In my humble opinion, this book has to stand among the best ever written about the tragedy of the Titanic. I have read The Other Side of the Night: The Carpathia, the Californian and the Night the Titanic Was Lost by this author and knew that this book would be equally as well done. And indeed it is. Mr. Butler does an admirable job of presenting the facts without the prejudice that is often present in other histories of that fateful night. He follows the activities of the passengers and crew as they react, in the most part, admirably, to the imminent sinking of the "unsinkable" and the stories of sacrifice are heartbreaking. This history covers the Titanic tragedy from the ship's launching through the Senate and British Board of Trade hearings until her rediscovery by Dr. Bob Ballard in 1985. An interesting afterword describes the lives of some of the major players in their later years and how they were forever changed by their role(s) on that April night in 1912. A very satisfying and sobering book which is highly recommended.
Daniel Allen Butler is a maritime and military historian, the author (through September 2011) of nine books. Some of his previous works include Unsinkable: the Full Story of RMS Titanic (1998); Distant Victory: The Battle of Jutland and the Allied Triumph in the First World War (2006); The Age of Cunard (2003); The Other Side of the Night: The Carpathia, the Californian, and the Night the Titanic was Lost (2009); The Burden of Guilt: How Germany Shattered the Last Days of Peace, Summer 1914 (2010); and Shadow of the Sultans Realm: the Destruction of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East (2011).
Educated at Hope College, Grand Valley State University, and the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Butler served in the United States Army before becoming a full-time author. He is an internationally recognized authority on maritime subjects and a popular guest speaker, having given presentations at the National Archives in Washington, DC, the Mariners Museum, and in the United Kingdom. He has also been frequently included in the on-board enrichment series of Cunards Queen Elizabeth 2 andQueen Mary 2, as well as the ships of the Royal Caribbean and Norwegian cruise lines.
