A Night to Remember: The Classic Account of the Final Hours of the Titanic (Holt Paperback)

“A Night to Remember” is Walter Lord’s classic account of the sinking of the “RMS Titanic,” which, as is well known, happened on April 15, 1912, and is, to this day, the worst maritime disaster in history.Published in 1955, “A Night to Remember” is, in every way, a masterful chronicle of the demise of the “Titanic.” In the space of only 208 pages, Lord documents nearly every aspect of the fateful maiden voyage of the “Titanic,” – the ship that was supposed to be unsinkable. Lord describes its departure from Southampton, England on April 10, 1912; the fateful moment five days later when it struck an iceberg and opened a 300 foot-long gash in its hull to the sea; the two-plus hour-long period when the ship rapidly filled with water and the crew and passengers desperately attempted to get as many of themselves as possible into lifeboats; the sinking of the “unsinkable” ship, and the rescue of the survivors on the morning after “Titanic” slipped beneath the surface of the north Atlantic Ocean.Lord based his book primarily on interviews with 63 of the survivors (of the 2,208 persons on board when the “Titanic” left port, only 705 – passengers and crew members – survived), as well as the documented findings of both British and American government inquiries into the disaster. Lord clearly states that all the actions and conversations of the passengers and crew that he describes are from the recollections of the people he interviewed.Lord touches on some of the controversies surrounding the “Titanic’s” sinking, such as: why were there only enough lifeboats for roughly half the number of people on board? Why did a higher percentage of first class passengers survive the wreck, and so comparatively few second class and steerage passengers survive? Why did the “SS Californian,” which was only 10 miles away from the accident site, fail to respond to the “Titanic’s” distress calls, while the “SS Carpathia,” which was 58 miles away, immediately respond, even though it was impossible for her to make it in time? Did any member of the crew actually shoot passengers or commit suicide?Because of this, and because Lord’s prose is so rich in facts, “A Night to Remember” has a superb documentary feel to it. Lord’s prose is concise, and his narrative highly readable. I found myself totally engrossed in this book from the moment I first picked it up.]I’ve read several books about the sinking of the “Titanic,” and all are very good. Walter Lord’s “A Night to Remember” is still the best of ‘em all, even though it’s sixty years old and much new information (such as the fact the “Titanic” broke in two when it sank) has become available over the years. This is the essential book to read for anyone interested in what happened to the “Titanic” on April 15, 1912. Most highly recommended.

Guggenheim - Astor - Straus - Mrs. James J. (Molly) Brown - all names that sound strangely familiar, and yet names that will live in history. It has been one hundred years since the Titanic disaster, and people are still fascinated by the ship and her fate. I bought this book as an Amazon Kindle Daily Deal on the Titanic's 100th Anniversary; strange how it took that to compel me to finally delve into Walter Lord's classic 1955 book retelling of the great ship's final hours, "A Night to Remember."Lord's "A Night to Remember" is a minute-by-minute account of the Titanic's final hours as told to Lord through countless hours of interview and research. This painstaking detail which he puts into the book is told in detail near the end of the book as he recounts the pages of research, interviews, and reading that he put into writing the book, even some of the conflicting details givens by witnesses. Please note that there is no central protagonist; consequently, the story will seem to jump around depending on who is recounting the story at the time. However, Lord has done a masterful job at putting all the information together and weaving it around the ship's historic timeline and creating a very readable and realistic work of non-fiction. With a passenger list in the back, detailing those who survived and those who didn't, the class prejudices and segregations are chillingly revealed; all three passenger classes are listed: the very wealthy, the middle class, and the lowly immigrants (or steerage) - and finally, the crew members from the officers to humble stewards.The 1958 British movie production of "A Night to Remember" remains perhaps the definitive dramatization of the disaster, adhering to the known facts of the time and achieving a documentary-like immediacy rather than a romanticized disaster. James Cameron's epic "Titanic" was released 39 years later and certainly broke box office records. Certainly, Cameron's film has its moments, but in truth I only liked it for the chance it gave me to see a great old ocean liner brought to life again on screen, not the romanticized "King of the World"! In "A Night To Remember", the effects are obviously not nearly so impressive, but the story-line is far better. Although addressed by Cameron, Lord's account reveals the horrifying class structure of the disaster, "which Cameron reduces to hollow Hollywood formula." No children died in the First and Second Class decks; however, 53 out of 76 children in steerage (great diction) died. Lord's "A Night to Remember" proved that truth is far more compelling than romanticized fiction.

This book is not similar to anything else. It gets you through the drama that evolved minute by minute, deck by deck that specific night.At first the names mean nothing to you, but as you keep on reading and taking into account that these were real people going through a real tragedy, you start to feel for them.The way it is written helps you visualize what was going on at that time and how many things went wrong. It also provides information on eBay could have been done differently.The last chapters focus on the aftermath of the incident and how it impacted future trips.Great writing for one of the biggest tragedies that happened in a time of peace.

On apprend beaucoup dans ce.livre que j'ai lu d'un trait. Beaucoup de petites observations humaines, telles que la division des classes sociales et le racisme, le background économique et le comportement exemplaire du personnel à bord. Des détails fascinants sur le sauvetage. J'ai adoré. En plus, un style d'écriture fort accessible et très très agréable à lire.

Muy buen libro

Livro incrível e cheio de detalhes.

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