Titanic: A Passenger's Guide Pocket Book

by John Blake

This guide is a wonderful addition to Conway's best-selling pocket book series that examines this famous ship from a refreshingly different angle. Launched in May 1911, the triple-screw steamer Titanic was the pride of the White Star Line and at that time the largest passenger ship in the world. Built to carry passengers in comfort and luxury on the lucrative transatlantic route, her design, fittings and on board facilites epitomised the spirit of the age in terms of elegance and style.

Titanic: A Passenger's Guide is a unique guide to all aspects of the ship, incorporating authentic period literature – from sources including White Star Line themselves, Harland & Wolff shipyards, and important publications from the time.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

128 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2011

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This pocketbook has been meticulously researched and is very well-crafted. Although it is a modern book, it is written in the style of a guidebook for Titanic passengers, so the tone imitates other writings from that era. The guidebook even includes some primary sources from that time, and it’s difficult to tell where the “real” material ends and the modern sections begin. Blake really nailed the writing to get such a seamless blend. This guidebook is somewhat fictional insofar as it reads as one big primary source, even though it was (mostly) only written recently. However, its content is nonfiction, and this has to be one of the most detailed accounts I’ve read of the construction of Titanic.

I really liked the level of detail, and the illustrations, charts, diagrams, etc. added a great deal to the experience of reading. I struggled through all the technical information about the ship; those sections used technical jargon without defining any of the terms. I appreciate that someone with more knowledge of ships might enjoy those passages—and I love that they weren’t oversimplified—but they also weren’t something that I could understand. It’s that same attention to deal that made other parts of the book so appealing. I read the menus from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class dining saloons; I learned about the history of the White Star Line and its rise in the mid-nineteenth century. I looked at maps showing the layout of all ten decks of the ship. I read the rules for flying different flags. I read the prices for sending telegrams, as well as the hours that either gender could use the swimming pool. It’s full of details about all sorts of things. My only criticism is that it should have been clearer where the primary sources ended. There is a list in the back of the book, but since it doens’t include page numbers, it’s hard to know what sections are included under a particular name. All in all, an unforgettable read.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love everything about this book. It is one of the most original books on the Titanic I've seen yet. It doesn't cover the sinking, but rather is a guidebook that a passenger on the Titanic would read before going or while onboard the ship. It is made the way an old guidebook would be made in terms of look and feel (type of paper used) and has many pictures, diagrams, photographs, etc. that make it intriguing. My favorite part is the menus from the ship. A must-have for an Titanic buff!

[ad_astras · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Titanic. It’s my favourite ship - and film - in the whole world. For my 21st birthday I got to go to the Titanic museum in Belfast and stay at the hotel made out of the Harland and Wolff offices.

This little pocketbook made for an interesting read! I really enjoyed the historical style and how I felt as though I could have been a passenger absorbing the info for the first time.

I do wish there had been more indication of the sources cited - I assumed everything was from The Shipbuilder magazine until I read other reviews.

I was kind of imagining a crew of journalists let aboard the ships at the time, sketching pictures of each room and detailing the interiors in painstaking detail. Something which, as a tabloid journalist myself, I’m intimately familiar with.

I must admit, I did end up skimming a few of the technical sections, which collapsed into reams of numbers, but I loved the more people-oriented bits. Loved seeing the menus and the details for booking deck chairs and the hours for swimming.

I though third class was very much skipped over - maybe because not as much info was provided about it at the time - but for a modern book it came across a little patronising?? I’m sure that was in-keeping with the contemporary style but it made me a bit sad. And the poor firemen having their own stairs so they didn’t mix with the poshos!!

I wish I had a chance to see the ship for myself.

[Angela Bianca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The social parts were four stars while the technical descriptions of the ship were two stars, so three stars on average.
The book is taken from original sources. It would have been nice if it had been clearer what the sources were and where they started and finished.

[Bertie Brady · Rating 2 out of 5]

A guidebook for the Titanic written in the style of the time, covering its history, specifications, architecture, and customer services.

The book, despite being a mix of original White Star line extracts from 1912 and modern additions by the editor, maintains a consistent Edwardian writing style. The style of the book in general is very well done, not only in its writing but in its presentation with sketched photos and original Titanic manuals/guides being used to give a greater understanding of what being a passenger on the Titanic would have looked like.

The book covers a vast amount of information on the Titanic. Of particular interest are the sections which discuss the social dimensions of the ship, such as the different provisions found between first, second and third class passengers and the discussions on the architectural layout of the Titanic. I was very surprised to read that the Titanic had a full-sized swimming pool and squash court for first-class passengers.

Reading about the rise of White star Line (the company behind the Titanic) was also really interesting. The company only began constructing vessels in the 1870s and grew from its relatively humble pioneer vessel, the Oceanic, to the nine-hundred-feet behemoths of Titanic and Olympic by 1912.

The book also has a number of mundane chapters, such as the tedious and overly dense section on the ship's construction and technical specifications, which go into minute detail about every area of the ship. The task of visualising the information in this section is made more difficult by the lack of photos, which would give clarity to the specific part of the ship being discussed.

Overall, this is a unique guidebook on the Titanic discussing how the ship was built and what life on it would have been like. 2.5 stars.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative. Has names of passengers, songs sang on titanic, menus and every specific detail about construction of the ship

[Victoria Micheletto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but too technical for me. Love the pictures and all the posters