Voyagers of the Titanic: Passengers, Sailors, Shipbuilders, Aristocrats, and the Worlds They Came From

Richard Davenport-Hines

Mar 2012 · Harper Collins

About this eBook

“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

It has been over 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. Voyagers of the Titanic offers a fascinating, uniquely original view of one of the most momentous catastrophes of the twentieth century.

“Impressive in both its writing and reporting.” —USA Today

“Eloquent and absorbing.” —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)

“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

“Utterly compelling.” —Sunday Times (UK)

“Paints a provocative portrait of the “upstairs, downstairs” social stratification in play aboard the doomed ship.” —Entertainment Weekly

“An astonishing work.” —Julian Fellowes, Creator and Executive Producer of Downton Abbey

“A haunting story of real, intersecting lives on a collision course with destiny.” —Kirkus Reviews

Ratings and reviews

Great book for anyone who loves the ship and the society and culture related to that era.

It piqued my interest enough to want to buy the boo.

About the author

Richard Davenport-Hinesis the acclaimed biographer of W. H. Auden and the Macmillan dynasty. He is also the author of Proust at the Majestic: The Last Days of the Author Whose Book Changed Paris and The Pursuit of Oblivion: A Global History of Narcotics. He is a regular contributor to the U.K. publications Literary Review, Sunday Telegraph, Spectator, and the Times Literary Supplement.