Titanic: The Last Great Images

by Robert D. Ballard, Ian Coutts

Dead men tell no tales. Dead ships, however, do. Over seventy years after the great ocean liner sank, marine geologist Robert Ballard discovered the wreck of the Titanic 12,500 feet beneath the surface of the icy North Atlantic. Now Ballard presents the world with an opportunity to live the story of the famous ship through his amazing last great images, before Titanic 's remains are gone forever. This is a story told in rusted, twisted metal and debris, but it is also a human story told in a porcelain doll's face, an empty shoe, and an abandoned derby hat. Titanic: The Last Great Images maps the wreck of the ship from a variety of perspectives to give a completely new picture of the triumph and tragedy that was Titanic . This illustrated volume—and a National Geographic special—weave the strands of the ocean liner's story together in renderings done by the ship's original designers, charts of the debris field, and period illustrations. Robert Ballard provides the clearest, most accurate view of the ship we have ever seen. In crisply detailed underwater photography, disintegrating ruins and shattered pieces reveal pride of workmanship, a rigidly defined class system, and indelible images of terror and courage. This book shows what makes the Titanic worthy of the world's undying fascination.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Historical, Photography, Maritime

192 pages, Hardcover

First published March 20, 2008

About the author

Robert Duane Ballard (born June 30, 1942 in Wichita, Kansas) is a former commander in the United States Navy and an oceanographer who is most noted for his work in underwater archaeology. He is most famous for the discoveries of the wrecks of the RMS Titanic in 1985, the battleship Bismarck in 1989, and the wreck of the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown in 1998. Most recently he discovered the wreck of John F. Kennedy's PT-109 in 2003 and visited the Solomon Islander natives who saved its crew. Ballard is also great-grandson of American Old West lawman Bat Masterson.

from wikipedia.org

see also
http://literati.net/Ballard/
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/fie...
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/pa...

Reviews

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5 stars - English Ebook

Over seventy years after the great ocean liner sank, marine geologist Robert Ballard discovered the wreck of the Titanic 12,500 feet beneath the surface of the icy North Atlantic.

Now Ballard presents the world with an opportunity to live the story of the famous ship through his amazing last great images, before Titanic's remains are gone forever.

This is a story told in rusted, twisted metal and debris, but it is also a human story told in a porcelain doll's face, an empty shoe, and an abandoned derby hat.

Titanic: The Last Great Images maps the wreck of the ship from a variety of perspectives to give a completely new picture of the triumph and tragedy that was Titanic.

This illustrated volume, and a National Geographic special, weave the strands of the ocean liner's story together in renderings done by the ship's original designers, charts of the debris field, and period illustrations.

Robert Ballard provides the clearest, most accurate view of the ship we have ever seen. In crisply detailed underwater photography, disintegrating ruins and shattered pieces reveal pride of workmanship, a rigidly defined class system, and indelible images of terror and courage.

This book shows what makes the Titanic worthy of the world's undying fascination.

Titanic: The Last Great Images" serves in part as an account of his 2004 return to the site to make further explorations with Remotely Operated Vehicles equipped with high resolution television cameras.

Many of the photographs in the book , seam from that mission. They are intensely powerful images, documenting in extraordinary detail the present condition of the wreck.

Ballard is sharply, although not stridently, critical of damage done over the previous two decades by other expeditions, perhaps more the result of accidents rather than deliberate intent, but destructive nonetheless.

The damage is worst in those areas most frequently visited by such expeditions, but Ballard is quick to point out that even natural processes, left to themselves, will eventually reduce the wreck to a pile of unrecognizable debris, perhaps in a century's time.

But Ballard does not merely report woe; he notes that the extent of damage is not as great as some have claimed and that the reduced pace of visiting expeditions has meant less damage being inflicted.

Ballard's great hope, firmly expressed in this book, is that legal action will be undertaken to protect the wreck from human activity, and that steps might eventually be made towards preserving it from extensive natural decay, so that someday it might serve as an underwater marine museum, visited only through the medium of robot vehicles. It is a great dream.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, this book is coffee-table sized, which was a surprise. That means the pictures of the boilers and bow and what is left of the stern are not only in super clear high definition, but they are huge too. The pictures were amazing, especially when they compared them to the 1985-1986 shots of the same pieces of the ship. Also, Ballard offered some ideas on what has always plagued me about the wreck... what ever happened to the lifeboats. There were pictures of them on a dock in New York without their "S.S. Titanic" name plates. He said that they might have been taken back to England and used on the Olympic. I had always wondered about that! Ballard spent a bit too much time (in my opinion) sermonizing about people diving down to the ship. I really do believe that human interaction has increased the deteroration of the ship, but I think environmental factors (read: global warming) have played a part as well. I do agree with Ballard on the salvaging of the ship. Even as a little girl, the idea of taking things from the ship seemed like robbing a grave to me. The sadness and the scale of human life lost has not dimmed. The detoration of the ship actually makes it more prounounced.

[Erwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Ballard's discovery of the Titanic in 1985 sitting on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean opened up new chapters in the story of the Titanic... the so-called unsinkable ship and the "Ship Of Dreams".
Ballard went back down to the Titanic in 2004 and that is what spurred this specific book.
The entire story of the Titanic is relived through Ballard's text but the key differences in this edition are the unbeleivable pictures of the Titanic as it looks now almost two miles deep in the North Atlantic. Incredible.

As the chapters in the book unfold... Ballard tries to bring the story of the people who were on that Titanic to front and center... through period photos, illustrations and then his final pictures of the Titanic at the bottom of the sea. The detail of these photos is amazing as it even captures individual shoes, fine china and other artifacts that are part of the debris field near the ship and also on the ship itself.

[Thomas Mengeling · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t have his first book, but this table book is just jaw dropping, such beautiful photos of a grand ship. I wish there was a underwater museum of the Titantic, maybe with holographic images of some of the passengers like Astor and such. One picture in the book gets me wondering, two boots and a coat lay together, almost like a body remains still there.
Amazing that the dishes didn’t break when the ship sank.

[Rachael Hewison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always had a fascination with the Titanic and this book has helped me to see what she looks like now (or near enough). The pictures are amazing- so crisp and clear I have never seen the Titanic in such detail. I have read so many Titanic books, it feels like there's not much more to learn, however Ballard surprised me by throwing in some more facts I didn't know about. It didn't get the full 5 stars from me, purely because it was much too short in my opinion. I wanted more.

[Michael Heath-Caldwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

More photos of crusty, disintegrating bits of the Titanic on the sea floor showing how much it has deteriorated since first being found.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has some fantastic pictures! It's written by Dr. Robert Ballard who discovered the wreck of the Titanic in 1985. What I most enjoyed about this book was Ballard's ideas/hopes for the future of Titanic. Ballard commented that since he found the Titanic in 1985 the ship has begun to decay at an alarming rate due to all of the different expeditions to the site of the wreck and the careless maneuvering of bulky equipment which has resulted in fallen railings, bigger holes, and the missing crows nest. His vision for the future is a virtual museum where anyone anywhere could visit the Titanic via the Internet. We have the technology and the Titanic will last longer if rules are set in place to govern who can visit the wreck and when.

In addition to the fabulous photography, Ballard provides a brief retelling of the Titanic story which includes a discussion of the time period.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll admit, I didn't actually read this book because I was too afraid of the pictures. Yes, folks, you heard that right: my great fear in life, my only true phobia, is deep, dark water, so seeing pictures of shipwrecks REALLY creeps me out. I find the story of the Titanic very interesting and thought that maybe I could get over the creepiness factor, but no dice. There were lots of pics though, so if you're into that kind of thing, you'd probably really like this book.

[Nadine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great pictures! The author of this book headed the group that first found the Titanic. In this book he was able to highlight changes and deterioration on the wreck due to human interaction with some before and after photographs. He has some wonderful ideas for remote viewing and touring of the wreck that were very interesting.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always had a bit of an obsession with Titanic. I loved reading about its history and staring at the pictures for ages. It really is so sad, and fascinating. The human story at the heart of Titanic never will perish, after all.

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was glad to read about Ballard revisiting his most famous find. However, I was disappointed to learn that submersibles have caused damage to the shipwreck. I hope this book urges countries around the world to pass a law that prohibits further frivilous visits to the Titanic.

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointed in the quality of the photos---I expected better. I'm sure the actual photos were higher resolution than the reproductions in this book. I'm glad I got a used copy, rather than pay full price for a new book.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gorgeous pics in this one! This is mostly due to the fact that this book is HUGE, so all the pictures were not only the clearest I've ever seen, but gigantic and right in your face.

A lot of the writing rehashed things from his other 2 books, but there were some new facts that I didn't know.

[Sparrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

The haunting image on the cover of this book is what made me want to read it. I enjoyed reading the history of the Titanic, seeing the photos and drawings, and learning about what is being done to preserve its remains. Also makes me want to watch Cameron's film and read "A Night to Remember."

[Kim Claesen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional book by the man who found the legendary ship in 1985.

From the discovery of the majestic ship, to the outstanding pics, a great story. I could not put the book down.

Recommended for anyone with an interest in the subject :-D

[Sarah Youngblood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book, it was large and easy to read, the photos were blown up big enough to see even the tiniest detail.