Titanic: True Stories of Her Passengers, Crew, and Legacy

by Nicola Pierce

RMS Titanic was one of the biggest and most luxurious ships the world had ever seen. What happened on April 14, 1912, when Titanic hit an iceberg is in many ways still unbelievable. Nicola Pierce has distilled her research into this accessible, moving book on everything from the ship's planning and construction to the passengers and crew to the sinking and aftermath. Through words and a wealth of period photographs, Titanic offers a fascinating journey for all who are interested in the dramatic story of the famously "unsinkable" ship.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Historical

240 pages, Hardcover

First published April 2, 2018

About the author

Former ghost-writer, Pierce published her first book for children in 2011. 'Spirit of the Titanic' received rave reviews and ran to five printings within its first twelve months. In 2018 she wrote the nonfiction 'Titanic, True Stories'. Her second children's novel 'City of Fate' is set during WW2's Battle of Stalingrad. This was followed by 'Behind the Walls', about the Siege of Derry, and 'Kings of the Boyne', about the 1690 Battle of the Boyne. Her latest children's novel, 'Chasing Ghost' tells the story of doomed John Franklin expedition to the Artic in 1845. In 2021, Pierce brought out a history of Dublin's O'Connell Street. New children's novel due out 4 Sept 2023, 'In Between Worlds, The Journey of the Famine Girls'.

Reviews

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the most well written book, but it contains a lot of historical facts for those interested in this particular moment in history.

[Tuuli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting collection of stories and anecdotes of Titanic. Well-researched and appropriately criticised and questioned. Rather easy to recommend.

[Jade Louise]

I've always had an interest in the historic tragedy that was the sinking of the Titanic, however up until this point I had only watched documentaries on the event - never once having picked up a book on the subject. Although there are a fair few books published about the Titanic, I opted to pick up this recent release by Nicola Pierce.

Inside you'll find comprehensive and in depth knowledge on a number of aspects surrounding the Titanic, and its sinking. The book is split into sections, with each one delving into a specific area - the building of the ship, the timeline of events, meeting the captain and so on.

Something I quite enjoyed in this book is the fact that when looking the people - crew & passengers - Nicola Pierce shares their backstory, not just a snippet pertaining to the ship. Those who were fortunate enough to have survived, the author has gone on to write about how they continued to live out their life.

Multifaceted and brimming with information, this book would make a great place to start for those looking to learn more about the Titanic.

[EmBe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally I got it. And it was really good read.

Gekauft in oder im "Titanic Belfast" und begonnen auf der Rundreise durchs nördliche Irland, wollte ich es endlich beenden. Und es hat sich wirklich gelohnt. Das Wichtigste zur Titanic und der Katastrophe zusammengefasst, in einer sehr lebendigen Sprache. Das Unglück der Titanic ist ja sinnbildlich geworden für unsere gesamt westliche und technische Zivilisation, bzw. ihre Gefährdung. Im Zentrum stehen die menschlichen Schicksale. Die in allen Facetten zu schildern hatte ein Buch mit 1000 Seiten nicht ausgereicht. Zumal es ja so viele Augenzeugenberichte und recherchierte Stories gibt Da sind Filme im Vorteil, wenngleich auch die sich an Sehgewohnheiten halten müssen. Das muss die Vorstellungskraft nicht. Es macht jedenfalls Lust auf mehr. Hervorheben möchte ich nur dass natürlich auch Morgan Robertsons Roman "Titan. eine Liebesgeschichte auf Hoher See"(deutscher Titel) nicht fehlen durfte. In dieser "scientific romance" nahm er 1898 das Unglück vorweg. Dem Autor ist ein Kapitel gewidmet. Man könnte auch eine Biographie schreiben.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad for what it is, but the field has been so thoroughly picked over that there is very little for the Titanic afficianado. But if you are looking for a basic introduction to the human stories associated with the ship, this is a reasonably good introduction.

[Cristela T · Rating 4 out of 5]

I struggle with non-fiction but this book was really easy to read. It was really interesting. I loved learning new details about the passengers, crew and history of the Titanic. I was especially moved by the story of Isidor and Ida Strauss. May the victims forever RIP.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful gem of a book, that manages to bring fresh perspectives to a story we think we know well. Ms Pierce has a delivered a factual book that contains a huge amount of detail that was new to this reader. However, this is not some dry tome of information but a well written guide about some of those people and places forever linked with the fatal ship.

Written in chronological order from Titanic's inception right through to her sinking and the fallout of her loss, it offers glimpses into Titanic's immense draw. The author has picked stories that are both emotional and perhaps have been lost behind the entertainment or sensational headlines over the years. Scattered with photographs throughout, it offers wonderful snapshots into some of the survivors and victims alike. It also goes further by detailing Titanic's impact on history, entertainment and places since then.

I tore through this book, as did my ten year old son and it certainly has inspired him to seek out more books by this author and on Titanic itself. I would highly recommend this book for all and it is a great addition to the wealth of material on the Titanic.

[Lucy Gould · Rating 5 out of 5]

This takes me back to the days when I was obsessed with reading about the Titanic. I was absolutely delighted to find out new pieces of information and it was such a quick read!

[T.O. Munro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've explored the Titanic story in a number of ways, two films, three exhibitions, several non-fiction books and an old PC computer game. However, Pierce brings a fresh angle to the story with this examination of individual narratives entangled in the tragedy - the real life Rose and Jack - if you like.

The book is a quick and engaging read (I consumed it in a couple of sittings over the course of the day) with some fascinating contemporary photographs as illustrations.

It offers fresh angles on some old stories - for example I had picked up somewhere that the author of the prescient novel about a liner that strikes an iceberg, has insufficient lifeboats and is lost with great loss of life had by an ironic twist of fate actually died on the Titanic. However, this is a merging of two stories.

Morgan Robertson did write an 1898 novel called 'Futility' which foreshadowed the titanic in many particulars even down to the name of the line (Titan) and its dimensions so similar to Titanic's that later publishers felt obliged to add 25,000 tonnes to its displacement to suggest some separation/distinction between the two. However, Robertson did not travel on the Titanic.

The journalist William Stead did travel - and perish - on Titanic, and he had written two, presumably short, stories of Transatlantic peril - an 1886 story about a mail steamer going down and many dying through two few lifeboats, and a 1892 story about a White Star liner Majestic, avoiding an iceberg due to a warning from an Irish clairvoyant's vision.

Other little gems in this delightful and thought provoking book, are the accounts of what happened to Walter Hartley's violin, the two tennis players and the sad tale of the anonymous toddler's body only positively identified this century through DNA analysis.

Pierce's book is a salutary reminder that every life lost is a tragedy, every victim's story deserves to be heard.

[Colette Palsgraaf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicola Pierce's excellent children's novel “Spirit of the Titanic” was published in 2011. Its main character was Samuel Scott, who died aged 15 whilst building Titanic.
In April 2018 Nicola’s latest book was published: “Titanic, True Stories of her Passengers, Crew and Legacy”. After four historical novels for children, Nicola’s new Titanic book is a non-fiction book. And a great one at that. First of all, it has a beautiful, vintage look. The hardback cover is stunning and so is the artwork in the book. As this is a non-fiction book, it has a lot of facts and figures, which I like! It is fascinating to read about all these people (and animals), from all walks of life, travelling together on Titanic. The attention to detail is amazing and you can clearly see the amount of research that has gone into the writing of the book. I have heard Nicola talk about Titanic and her passengers on a number of occasions over the years and it is great that there is now this book where it is all coming together. I had quite a few “oh yes, I remember hearing/reading that” moments. But there were also a lot of “well, I never knew that” moments. I highly recommend this brilliant book, suitable for all ages.
Make sure to get your copy!

[Keith Lytton · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book took me awhile to read...not because it wasnt good but because other things kept popping up....I have always had a fascination with the Titanic...and this book takes a different sort of look at the story...it takes little pieces of the puzzel...mainly the personalities...but just not the well known...there are stories of lower class passengers...stories of other crew members besides those we have heard of so many times...i could name off so many....but one that stuck out...a man had kidnapped his two sons from their mom and was taking them to the United states...when sinking...he made sure both of his sons were in a lifeboat...then he returned to the boat and went down with it...he didnt survive...as much as i hate the idea of what he did...and for all i know maybe that was best for them...and in the end he had total honor..saved his boys...

this book is full of little stories like this...it covered a little bit of the trials...more than i have read before...but definitely more in depth...

I did like the book...can definitely recommend it...for a titanic follower...a definite good read.

[Matthew Kresal · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Titanic is one of those subjects that won't go away, lingering in the pop culture subconscious as few historical events can. Indeed, one suspects there have been enough books written about it to fill a library. All of which makes what Nicola Pierce does here all the more splendid as she distills that library down into a single volume. Pierce's book isn't necessarily your traditional Titanic work in that it doesn't have the typical narrative or laser focus on a specific part of the tragedy. Instead, it's a fantastic single-volume collection of facts, anecdotes, photographs, and myth-busting related to various facets of the story. As such, it's a perfect companion to classic works such as Walter Lord's A Night to Remember and The Night Lives On, or the myriad of Titanic books that followed both in the wake of James Cameron's 1997 film and the 2012 centenary. In a sea of ultra-specific Titanic works, Pierce reminds readers that the Titanic isn't one story but a multitude.

[Jennifer Irons · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a Titanic enthusiast and absolutely loved this book. There was so much I did not know, for instance, a lot of the passengers pets perished along with their owners. I never knew there were animals aboard the ship. A lot of great information too about each of the 16 lifeboats and 4 collapsible boats that were launched when the ship was sinking. The most interesting fact, though, for me, in this book is that a movie about Titanic came out in 1912 only 1 month after the sinking and that one of the women who survived Titanic appeared in this film wearing the exact outfit she wore the night of April 14-15 1912. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is a Titanic enthusiast or for anyonew who just wants to know more about the final hours of this great luxurious ocean liner, which was said by newspapers to be "practically unsinkable"!

[Dann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Titanic: True Stories of Her Passengers, Crew, and Legacy is a remarkably compelling retrospective on the Titanic disaster. Author Nicola Pierce puts faces to the tragedy by looking at some of the stories of the ship’s builders, passengers, and crew. Pierce wisely refrains from attempting to come to any definitive “truth” about what happened during the sinking, and instead recounts the sometime contradictory stories of the survivors that have become part of the legend without commenting on their veracity. Additionally, she has a very engaging and personable writing style. And the text is well organized and has an especially nice flow from chapter to chapter; never getting dull or tired up in minutia. A loving tribute to the victims of this tragedy, Titanic: True Stories of Her Passengers, Crew, and Legacy humanizes this larger-than-life event.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

The topic was heartbreaking yet fascinating. It's interesting to witness human nature under the strain of tragedy and it's lingering effects. Some passengers were besotted with grief and died shortly thereafter. Others, saw it as a rebirth, a second chance at life and lived very purposeful, fulfilling lives. I loved that this book was entirely about the passengers; those who survived and those that parished nameless. What a magnificent eulogy. Mrs. Pierce did an extraordinary job of keeping them alive in our memories through this literary feat.

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read a lot of books about the Titanic and this book narrated facts that were new to me about the builders, businessmen, crew, survivors, victims, and others who had connections with the Titanic. It is a very worthy Titanic read. The author does a very accurate job of helping her readers understand what a horrible tragedy the sinking was and that no one person is to blame for the incident. The book point out that there were no villains here, only flawed human beings.

[Rebekah Rowe · Rating 3 out of 5]

We all know the story of the RMS Titanic – the biggest and most luxurious ship the world had ever seen. The fate of the unsinkable ship on April 14, 1912 will never be forgotten

I enjoyed this account of the history of the ship, including all of the pictures. It was written well and explored many different aspects of the Titanic. However, I thought it would have more stories from survivors of the ship. I felt it fell a little flat and would have loved more first person accounts of that night.

[jaimedannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The history of the Titanic has been written about by countless authors and journalists in many books, magazines and documentaries. This is a thorough, yet not exhaustive telling of this tragedy. I appreciate the parts of this story not often discussed being included amongst these pages. I didn't know much about the rescue ships or the funeral ships. Nicola also included details of some survivors' lives years after sinking.

[Hope Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well organized book accounting of specific passengers and events that occurred before, during and after the tragedy that befell this incredible ship. I love how the author touched into the investigations that took place to determine factors that could have prevented the incident, or what could have occurred to save more lives other than the obvious answer of having more lifeboats.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fact packed Historic novel. Based on real events, times, places, dates & most importantly it’s people. 4/15/1912…. A real learning experience for sure.

[Tim Carswell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good reading of people and crew on the Titanic.Goes into detail why they were on ship and and trying to go to New York.

[Demarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in bits and pieces-it is a fairly basic account given in snippets of information, making it easy to read, but leaving me wanting more in some respects and in less of others.

[Ariela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just about everyone knows about the Titanic. The “unsinkable ship”.
I decided to get this book (despite knowing it’s story quite well) because I wanted to see what this book had to add to the story of the Titanic. It’s not just the tale of how it sank, but stories of the people who boarded it, and it’s legacy today. I was very pleased with what I found in this book, and all of it was extremely interesting. I loved getting to read about things that are often overlooked in the Titanic’s story. The author adds many details, and this book is very well-researched. It’s supposed to be a “history book” but it reads just like a regular book would, and that’s certainly a result of skillful writing. Of course, the added story of the Titanic makes it all the most interesting.

Going to the Titanic Museum in Southampton, I was able to learn about the Titanic from there. A lot of the exhibit was mainly focused on the crew from Southampton and the impact that it’s sinking had on this city. Going to the Titanic Museum in Halifax and reading about it in this book gave me a different added perspective to the Titanic’s story and how it relates to Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia. I really loved what I learned, and again, I feel that the stories of the crew of the Titanic, as well as the fact that it went down near Atlantic Canada often gets over looked.

The story of the Titanic is a heartbreaking one, but it’s also inspired so many different things. This book explores many of those, and it’s got a lot to say about each of them. I loved reading this book and learning more about the story of the Titanic, and I really appreciated the author’s research and the time that she took to bust myths and tell the truths that might have been lost.

The Titanic’s story never really seems to come to an end. It’s that thing that everyone always references and talks about. It will never be forgotten.

I hope you check out Titanic: True Stories of Her Passengers, Crew and Legacy by Nicola Pierce <3

[Emily Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Titanic by Nicola Pierce is a history book that, to me, doesn’t read like a history book (in a good way!). Published by Nimbus publications, I found this book had lots of facts. It followed a timeline I could understand, and I learned a lot without being overwhelmed or having that “yawn” feeling as I’m reading.

Going into this book I already had a good amount of knowledge about the Titanic. I knew a lot about the sequence of events that led to the sinking, the aftermath, and the search for it after it sank. What I didn’t know too awful much about was the people. Which is where this book comes into play.

This book hits on the many walks of life who boarded the ship - the rich and famous, the less well known, and the regular families. I find there are so many Titanic books, yet this one is set apart because it focuses on the stories of the people, and not just the story of the ship.

I recommend this book if you are interested in a read that is easy to follow but factual. This book follows a chronological timeline which makes it (in my opinion) a read that you can really focus into. The Titanic is a topic that will truly never forgotten, so if you’re going to read any book I definitely recommend this one!

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read lots of books about the Titanic, but this one was one of the most interesting. It had a chapter on the animals on board, a chapter on the treasures on board, a chapter on the sport heroes, etc. Gave lots more data type information. Just a real interesting way of presenting the story of the Titanic & the many people involved in its history. A must read for anyone interested in the famous ship.

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have always had an interest in anything Titanic. It is a story that will forever hold people in awe and yet sorrow.
This book did a great job of including so many stories of survivors and the ones who didn't make it on that tragic night. Was an easy read (doesn't go into huge depth) but was interesting.

[Gabriela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Man, I was expecting so much more. I thought there was going to be cool information about the Titanic. But it was pretty straightforward.

I'd recommend, to like, I guess the obvious Titanic enthusiast. But to the type of person who is only interested in like the super cool stuff, ehh. No, I'd pass. I wish I did.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting and I guess it's really 3.5 stars. The facts are good but the order in which they are presented is confusing, I would have preferred it more chronologically as well as a bit of focus on what it was like before the crash.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a lot of subtopics in this book, making it a good starting point for emerging TITANIC enthusiasts and future researchers. Even with some errors (e.g., LUSITANIA was lost in 1915, not 1917; a gravestone in Halifax bears the name “J Dawson,” not “Jack Dawson”) it’s a decent introductory read.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting, I especially loved the breakdown of each lifeboat.