Titanic Lives

Marking the centenary of the Titanic disaster, ‘Titanic Lives’ is a fresh investigation of the lives of the passengers and crew on board the most famous ship in history.

On the night of 14 April 1912, midway through her maiden voyage, the seemingly unsinkable Titanic hit an iceberg, sustaining a 300-feet gash as six compartments were wrenched open to the Atlantic Ocean. In little over two hours, the palatial liner nose-dived to the bottom of the sea. More than 1,500 people perished in the freezing waters. But who were they?

In this impeccably researched and utterly riveting social history, Richard Davenport-Hines brings to life the stories of the men who built and owned the Titanic, the crew who serviced her and the passengers of all classes who sailed on her. We are introduced to this fascinating cast of characters and follow their lives on board the ship through to the supreme dramatic climax of the disaster.

Universally critically acclaimed, ‘Titanic Lives’ is the must-read Titanic book of the centenary year.

“' … the confident, graceful prose of fine fiction' Wall street Journal '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 'Eloquent and absorbing… As well as being a fascinating work of social history, Titanic Lives is a remarkable study of empathy and its absence. As such it will stay afloat long after the armada of other Titanic books have gone down.' Frances Wilson, Daily Telegraph 'Though it seems shameful to admit it, the one certain benefit we have derived from the tragedy is a shattering human story that is also, when told as well as Davenport-Hines tells it, utterly compelling.' John Carey, Sunday Times '[A] gripping study … the author paints a richly atmospheric portrait of an age when class consciousness was at its apogee.' Literary Review”

‘A masterpiece of narrative history’ Mail on Sunday

‘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

‘Eloquent and absorbing… As well as being a fascinating work of social history, Titanic Lives is a remarkable study of empathy and its absence. As such it will stay afloat long after the armada of other Titanic books have gone down’ Frances Wilson, Daily Telegraph

‘Richard Davenport-Hines’s immaculately researched history brings an extraordinary cavalcade of characters to vivid life’ Sunday Telegraph

‘Fascinating social history’ Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times

‘By far the most gripping book on the subject…he manages to maintain an extraordinary forward momentum, yet at the same time rescue from the deep, the biographies of hundreds of people…Davenport-Hines’s sense of what to reveal when is perfectly tuned’ Rose Tremain, Guardian

Richard Davenport-Hines won the Wolfson Prize for History for his first book, ‘Dudley Docker’. He is an adviser to the ‘Oxford Dictionary of National Biography’ and has also written biographies of W.H.Auden and Marcel Proust. His most recent book, ‘Ettie, the Intimate Life of Lady Desborough’ was published in 2008. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Society of Literature, he reviews for the Sunday Telegraph, the Sunday Times and the Times Literary Supplement.

Marking the centenary of the Titanic disaster, 'Titanic Lives' is a fresh investigation of the lives of the passengers and crew on board the most famous ship in history. On the night of 14 April 1912, midway through her maiden voyage, the seemingly unsinkable Titanic hit an iceberg, sustaining a 300-feet gash as six compartments were wrenched open to the Atlantic Ocean. In little over two hours, the palatial liner nose-dived to the bottom of the sea. More than 1,500 people perished in the freezing waters. But who were they? In this impeccably researched and utterly riveting social history, Richard Davenport-Hines brings to life the stories of the men who built and owned the Titanic, the crew who serviced her and the passengers of all classes who sailed on her. We are introduced to this fascinating cast of characters and follow their lives on board the ship through to the supreme dramatic climax of the disaster. Universally critically acclaimed, 'Titanic Lives' is the must-read Titanic book of the centenary year.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.