Titanic: Legacy of the World's Greatest Ocean Liner

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Summary: The Titanic saga in one easy, illustrated lesson.
Review: Accurate, up to date, treatment in one volume of what happened to the Titanic. Also with excellent coverage of the discovery of the remains seventy years later, with copious pictures and illustrations. Students needing a short one-volume outline of the tragedy will find it here. Sensitivity and intelligence characterise this fine volume.

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Summary: A Must-Have Book For Titanic Fans.
Review: Gorgeous 205 page, hardcover library volume. Beautiful full color and black and white large photos. Provides insight into the maiden voyage, terror at sea, in search of the Titanic, anatomy of the disaster, the trail of time, and an epilogue. Beautiful never before published photos. One of the best books on the topic to be found. Full color pictures of much Titanic memorabilia. A great addition to a Titanic fan's library.

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Summary: Breathtaking
Review: I found this book to humanize the Titanic tragedy. It put a face on the words "Titanic." As far as scavangering, I feel that by bringing up remnants will assure that the world will never forget April 14,1912. Items of persons i.e. letters, clothing, jewelery, and toiletry items left me with a very haunted yet respectful feeling. Definitly "brings you there". Very hard to put down, yet at times it was so intense that I had to put it down and give myself a chance to absorb what I had read.

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Summary: A beautiful recreation of Titanic:real and imagined.
Review: I found this volume satisfying and very well done. I have ordered the James Cameron book too, but really this volume stands well on its own. As I probably won't get to see the traveling exhibit, I especially appreciated seeing the actual artifacts "strewn" throughout the book, much as they appeared on the ocean floor.

As a graphic designer, I thought the design was admirable--contemporary, not overdone, yet sensitive of the period. I have several Titanic books, and consider this to be the most comprehensive visual assortment of information I have seen. To me, what was really special about this book were the computer illustrations mixed in --the opening sequence has a beautiful illustration of the bow coming into contact with the berg. The computer recreations of the ship's interior are also of high artistic quality and give the volume a dreamlike feeling. This together with informative charts and graphs give the reader a sensitive, nicely balanced account of the event--a true keepsake volume.

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Summary: Attractive Book for Light Reading
Review: Overall, this is a nicely-designed and illustrated book that would make a great gift. Many of the artifact photos (of which there are plenty) are unique to this book. The issue of salvage haunts every page of this book. On numerous occasions author Susan Wels makes the case for RMS Titanic, Inc. and their salvage operations. That may or may not be fine to you, depending upon your view of the whole salvage thing, but you'll probably find that it gets kind of annoying and repetitive after a while. Much is made of the fact that Titanic-finder Robert Ballard initially supported some salvage operations (he is now opposed to them).

All of that aside, the rest of the book is nice to look at and worth reading. The text plays second-fiddle to the photographs, but that's fine for a book such as this.

I was a bit surprised at one error in the text- in describing Captain Smith's safety record, Wels notes that he was captain of the Germanic when it `capsized' in 1899. Well, the Germanic sank upright at its pier because of an ice storm; it was quickly re-floated and spent another 51 years in service; the captain and crew were found not at fault by White Star; and the captain at the time was Edward McKinstry, not Edward J. Smith.

Rating:
Summary: Attractive Book for Light Reading
Review: Overall, this is a nicely-designed and illustrated book that would make a great gift. Many of the artifact photos (of which there are plenty) are unique to this book. The issue of salvage haunts every page of this book. On numerous occasions author Susan Wels makes the case for RMS Titanic, Inc. and their salvage operations. That may or may not be fine to you, depending upon your view of the whole salvage thing, but you'll probably find that it gets kind of annoying and repetitive after a while. Much is made of the fact that Titanic-finder Robert Ballard initially supported some salvage operations (he is now opposed to them).

All of that aside, the rest of the book is nice to look at and worth reading. The text plays second-fiddle to the photographs, but that's fine for a book such as this.

I was a bit surprised at one error in the text- in describing Captain Smith's safety record, Wels notes that he was captain of the Germanic when it 'capsized' in 1899. Well, the Germanic sank upright at its pier because of an ice storm; it was quickly re-floated and spent another 51 years in service; the captain and crew were found not at fault by White Star; and the captain at the time was Edward McKinstry, not Edward J. Smith.

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Summary: I love the Titanic,and I love this book and reading about it
Review: The book is exceptionally well written, with a wealth of specific detail that brings the story to life. Susan Wels also makes a point of bringing in the perspectives of a wide assortment of people to give a broad sense not only of the tragedy, but of the whole experience. The design is tasteful and the photos/illustrations well chosen. My only criticism is that the text/illustration ratio is skewed too far toward illustration: My wife's first impression was that it was a picture book. It's not.

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Summary: EXCELENT!!!!
Review: This book is an extraodinary look at the Titanic. It has wonderful pictures, and text. It even has a list of all the passengers who were on it's Maiden voyage. You definately should read this book!

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Summary: This is a Titanic (adj.) Book
Review: TITANIC: Legacy of the World's Greatest Ocean Liner is a (if not the) definitive book on the Titanic. It has lots of facts and text and is almost grotesquely overwrought with pictures.

In the beginning and end of this book, there is a complete list of RMS Titanic's passengers and crew which is very useful.

Scattered about the book, it contains points of views of different survivors. Two facts are incorrect, the gross tonnage was 46,328 and the cruising speed was 21 knots.

This book is worth all you pay for it, and Titanic buff should add it to his/her library.