Voyagers of the Titanic - Large Print by Richard Davenport-Hines (Paperback)

About the Book

"An astonishing work."--Julian Fellowes, Creator and Executive Producer of "Downton Abbey"

"A book well worthy of marking the centenary of the crystal-clear night when the immense ship slid to her terrible doom."--Simon Winchester, New York Times bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman

It has been one hundred years since the sinking of the passenger liner Titanic in the North Atlantic, yet worldwide fascination with the epic tragedy remains as strong as ever. With Voyagers of the Titanic, Richard Davenport-Hines gives us a magnificent history of the people intimately connected with the infamous ship--from deal-makers and industry giants, like J.P. Morgan, who built and operated it; to Molly Brown, John Jacob Astor IV, and other glittering aristocrats who occupied its first class cabins; to the men and women traveling below decks hoping to find a better life in America. Commemorating the centennial anniversary of the great disaster, Voyagers of the Titanic offers a fascinating, uniquely original view of one of the most momentous catastrophes of the 20th century.

Book Synopsis

"An astonishing work."
--Julian Fellowes, Creator and Executive Producer of "Downton Abbey"

"A book well worthy of marking the centenary of the crystal-clear night when the immense ship slid to her terrible doom."
--Simon Winchester, New York Times bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman

It has been one hundred years since the sinking of the passenger liner Titanic in the North Atlantic, yet worldwide fascination with the epic tragedy remains as strong as ever. With Voyagers of the Titanic, Richard Davenport-Hines gives us a magnificent history of the people intimately connected with the infamous ship--from deal-makers and industry giants, like J.P. Morgan, who built and operated it; to Molly Brown, John Jacob Astor IV, and other glittering aristocrats who occupied its first class cabins; to the men and women traveling below decks hoping to find a better life in America. Commemorating the centennial anniversary of the great disaster, Voyagers of the Titanic offers a fascinating, uniquely original view of one of the most momentous catastrophes of the 20th century.

From the Back Cover

On April 14, 1912, the Titanic, a passenger liner traveling from Southhampton, England, to New York City, struck an iceberg. Its sinking brought the ship--mythological in name and size--into one-hundred years of infamy.

Of the 2,240 people aboard the ship, 1,517 perished. While many accounts focus on the technical aspects of the Titanic's sinking, Voyagers of the Titanic follows the stories of the men, women, and children whose lives intersected on its fateful last day. Covering the range of first, second, and third class--from plutocrats and captains of industry to cobblers and tailors looking for a better life in America--Richard Davenport-Hines delves into the fascinating lives of those who ate, drank, dreamed, and died abroad the mythic ship. With magnificent prose, he also explores the politics behind the Titanic's creation, involving larger-than-life figures like J.P. Morgan, the ship's owner, and Lord Pirrie, the ship's builder.

The memory of the ship's sinking still remains a part of the American psyche and Voyagers of the Titanic brings that clear night back to us with all of its drama and pathos.

Review Quotes

"Here at last is the true memorial ... a book well worthy of marking the centenary of the crystal-clear night when the immense ship slid to her terrible doom" -- Simon Winchester

"An astonishing work, of meticulous research, which allows us to know, in painful detail, the men and women on that fateful voyage. Even now, a hundred years later, Mr. Davenport-Hines finds a new, and heart-breaking, story to tell." -- Julian Fellowes, Creator and Executive Producer of "Downton Abbey"

"Paints a provocative portrait of the "upstairs, downstairs" social stratification in play aboard the doomed ship. A-" -- Entertainment Weekly

"The story of the Titanic has been told many times; this one takes a sociological perspective, with the confident, graceful prose of fine fiction." -- Wall Street Journal

"Impressive in both its writing and reporting... It's a romp. You don't know who will be strolling down the deck next." -- USA Today

"A shattering human story that is also, when told as well as Davenport-Hines tells it, utterly compelling." -- Sunday Times (UK), lead review

"Eloquent and absorbing... It will stay afloat long after the armada of other Titanic books have gone down." -- The Telegraph (UK)

"This will not be the last book on the Titanic, but it is a safe bet that there will not be a better." -- The Spectator (UK), lead review

"Meticulous... detailed account." -- Women's Wear Daily.com

"This intelligent book focuses not on the ship so much as its passengers. Bolstered by photographs of the people who built, staffed, sailed on and survived the Titanic, Davenport-Hines finds a slew of new points of view from which to scan history." -- Denver Post