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A Night to Remember
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First published in 1955, A Night to Remember remains a completely riveting account of the Titanic's fatal collision and the behavior of the passengers and crew, both noble and ignominious. Some sacrificed their lives, while others fought like animals for their own survival. Wives beseeched husbands to join them in lifeboats; gentlemen went taut-lipped to their deaths in fu
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Paperback, 208 pages
Published
January 7th 2005
by Holt McDougal
(first published 1955)
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“All the [lifeboats] together could carry 1178 people. On this Sunday night there were 2207 on board the Titanic. This mathematical discrepancy was known by none of the passengers and few of the crew, but most of them wouldn’t have cared anyhow. The Titanic was unsinkable. Everybody said so. When Mrs. Albert Caldwell was watching the deck hands carry up luggage at Southampton, she asked one of them, ‘Is this ship really unsinkable?’ ‘Yes, lady,’ he answered. ‘God himself could not sink this ship
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Wow, I can see why this book is considered a classic in narrative nonfiction. In fact, I picked up this book because Nathaniel Philbrick, himself a master writer, told the New York Times that this was one of his favorite books of the genre. (The other nonfiction book he mentioned was Alfred Lansing's Endurance, which I also agree was excellent.)
A Night to Remember gives a gripping, detailed account of what happened the night the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic Ocean, killing more ...more
A Night to Remember gives a gripping, detailed account of what happened the night the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic Ocean, killing more ...more

James Cameron's vision of the Titanic decided that the most compelling and lucrative story would focus on two young lovers who had just met. Looking at the passenger manifest, where survivors are listed in italics and the dead are not, suggests how blandly offensive this vision is. It's hard to argue with the chivalry of "women and children first," but for family after family, particularly among first class passengers, fathers and husbands went down with the ship while mothers, wives, and kiddie
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May 19, 2008
Bronwyn
rated it
it was amazing
Recommends it for:
anyone who wants to read a true and accurate account of the titanic disaster
Recommended to Bronwyn by:
no one, bought it at a second hand store
this is a very good book about the sinking of the titanic, probably the best and most accurate of the books written about the titanic disaster, a movie(a night to remember) was made from it, and it tells you what really happened instead of exaggerations, and lies, so it is without a doubt among the best of the books written about the titanic disaster, and I would recommend it to anyone would is interested in the titanic and wants to read a true account

Today's cruise ships are basically floating cities. Able to carry more than 6000 people, the Oasis of the Seas (Royal Caribbean Line) is 5 times the size of the Titanic. But back in its day, more than 100 years ago, the Titanic was a wonder. It took thousands of men more than 2 years to build her. Titanic was 4 city blocks long and could carry more than 2,400 people. She was new....she was massive....and she was doomed. 2 years to build.....and the largest ship afloat in April 1912 took just und
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This is sort of the primary, classic book on the Titanic disaster. Published in 1955, it's short and smoothly written -- covering the viewpoints of a large cast and changing centers of perspective with ease. There have been four movies made about the Titanic in the sound era (there were several silent movies about or loosely based on it). I've seen three of the four and have the other one on VHS to watch. The first was a 1943 German, Nazi-produced spectacle that mainly was made, it seemed, as an
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Book on CD read by Walter Jarvis
On April 15, 1912, the greatest ship to ever sail struck an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic. This is a chronological tale of what the people aboard the Titanic recall of that night’s events.
This is a re-read. I first read it before I joined either Shelfari or Goodreads, so I have no record of when I read it. I believe it was in the 1980s; I know it was long before the hugely successful movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. If memory serves, I ...more
On April 15, 1912, the greatest ship to ever sail struck an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic. This is a chronological tale of what the people aboard the Titanic recall of that night’s events.
This is a re-read. I first read it before I joined either Shelfari or Goodreads, so I have no record of when I read it. I believe it was in the 1980s; I know it was long before the hugely successful movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. If memory serves, I ...more

Because I'm cruel and evil, I'm going to ruin this book for you with a spoiler. The ship sinks, folks.
What, you already knew that? You've heard the story before, once or twice, maybe? In fact, do you think the Titanic story is overblown in our culture? Are you tired of it? You can blame Walter Lord. But don't blame him too much; he wrote an amazing book.
Lord was something of a harmless crank with a bit of a fascination with this big honkin' ship that had run into an iceberg a few decades before. ...more
What, you already knew that? You've heard the story before, once or twice, maybe? In fact, do you think the Titanic story is overblown in our culture? Are you tired of it? You can blame Walter Lord. But don't blame him too much; he wrote an amazing book.
Lord was something of a harmless crank with a bit of a fascination with this big honkin' ship that had run into an iceberg a few decades before. ...more

When I was about 15, I was completely obsessed with the Titanic (yep, that's the year the movie came out!), and I brought every book I could find about it. And at the time, hyping up the movie, there was a lot of books available.
A couple of years later, the obsession had faded and it wasn't until the 100th anniversary of the sinking in mid-April that my interest was piqued again. So I picked up a copy of A Night to Remember.
Written in 1955, it reads with a surprisingly modern and appealing voice ...more
A couple of years later, the obsession had faded and it wasn't until the 100th anniversary of the sinking in mid-April that my interest was piqued again. So I picked up a copy of A Night to Remember.
Written in 1955, it reads with a surprisingly modern and appealing voice ...more

If...
If the Titanic had heeded any of the six ice messages on Sunday....if ice conditions had been normal...if the night had been rough or moonlit...if she had seen the berg 15 seconds sooner--or later...if she had hit the ice any other way...if her watertight bulkheads had been one deck higher...if she had carried enough boats...if the Californian had only come. Had any one of these "ifs" turned out right, every life might have been saved. But they all went against her--a classic Greek tragedy....more

I've never trusted the month of April. It should be the month of flowers and bunnies and eggs and bees, which it is. But April is also the month of disasters...the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, Chernobyl, the Oklahoma City Bombing, Columbine and, of course, the Sinking of the Titanic. The 'S' is capitalized.
Prior to reading Walter Lord's version of the Sinking, the Titanic was just another shipwreck to me, but forever after, it is THE shipwreck. Under Lord's framing, it's also the end of the Gilded ...more
Prior to reading Walter Lord's version of the Sinking, the Titanic was just another shipwreck to me, but forever after, it is THE shipwreck. Under Lord's framing, it's also the end of the Gilded ...more

I don't know how the author does it, but he manages a sumptuous notice of detail and a very brisk, but not quite hurried pace – of course perfect for a narrative centering on the Titanic. He also draws some interesting cultural conclusions which point to its place in history and why it still fascinates us.
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Walter Lord's A Night to Remember (which I absolutely adored as a teenager) is basically and for all intents and purposes a live action, riveting account of the sinking of the Titanic, from start to finish, from the time the iceberg was hit to when the sadly oh so very few survivors were picked up, had finally reached the Carpathia (and I can well understand how and why this novel was made into a movie, although I have not seen it).
Now as a teenager, the massive amounts of emotionally fraught p ...more
Now as a teenager, the massive amounts of emotionally fraught p ...more

The more I read about the Titanic the more I dislike James Cameron's film, with its reliance on spectacle, mockery/slander of historical figures (Lightoller, Captain Smith, Guggenheim, etc.), and a corny love story, when the real sinking was a horror show. Sadly, Cameron is not alone, as nearly every film (there are over 15 feature length movies) is based on fictional characters although the actual sinking contains a wealth of stories. Many of them are here in this account, done in a documentary
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I have tried many times to read A Night To Remember, and I always ended-up putting it aside.
This time, however, the reading experience was quite different. Six days earlier, I started 'Shadow of the Titanic: The Extraordinary Stories Of Those Who Survived', and as I learned a lot about survivors' post-Titanic life, I formed some kind of an attachment and an understanding to them; thus, I guess, I was meant to read A Night To Remember, the story of the sinking right after reading about the event ...more
This time, however, the reading experience was quite different. Six days earlier, I started 'Shadow of the Titanic: The Extraordinary Stories Of Those Who Survived', and as I learned a lot about survivors' post-Titanic life, I formed some kind of an attachment and an understanding to them; thus, I guess, I was meant to read A Night To Remember, the story of the sinking right after reading about the event ...more

The great story of a great tragedy.
What's interesting is that when we went to see Titanic, the girls sitting behind us didn't know the ship was going to sink. They were quite surprised at that plot twist.
Reading-- it's important. As is history.
I cover the 7 Cascade Events leading to the Titanic sinking in Stuff Doesn't Just Happen: The Gift of Failure. There are some little details that aren't widely know, such as the officer having the key to the locker where the binoculars were held didn't boa ...more
What's interesting is that when we went to see Titanic, the girls sitting behind us didn't know the ship was going to sink. They were quite surprised at that plot twist.
Reading-- it's important. As is history.
I cover the 7 Cascade Events leading to the Titanic sinking in Stuff Doesn't Just Happen: The Gift of Failure. There are some little details that aren't widely know, such as the officer having the key to the locker where the binoculars were held didn't boa ...more

A truely matter of fact account of the sinking of the Titanic, brilliantly told. It's interesting that although first published only about 40 years after the disaster people still had differnt memories of the events that happened. This version is an excellent unabridged audio CD, read by the ever reliable Martin Jarvis.
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Walter Lord's book is itself over half a century old (published 1956) and yet it remains highly readable justifying its "classic" tag.
Where Lord excels is that he interviewed 63 survivors and weaved their recollections with many other written sources and testimonies to tell a story.
And a fine story it is. He hooks the reader on the first page by placing you firmly in 1912 and on board the second of White Star Line's Olympic class ships, and at the time of her voyage the largest ship afloat, and ...more
Where Lord excels is that he interviewed 63 survivors and weaved their recollections with many other written sources and testimonies to tell a story.
And a fine story it is. He hooks the reader on the first page by placing you firmly in 1912 and on board the second of White Star Line's Olympic class ships, and at the time of her voyage the largest ship afloat, and ...more

I watched this video showing the sinking of the Titanic in real time while reading this book to try and get the most authentic experience of this tragedy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs9w5...
And.. wow.
Absolutely amazing.
A must read for anyone who was as obsessed with the Titanic as I was when I was a kid. A great, genuine, detailed, touching and true account of this horrible tragedy.
"As the sea closed over the Titanic, Lady Cosmo Duff Gordon in boat 1 remarked to her
secretary Miss Francate ...more
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs9w5...
And.. wow.
Absolutely amazing.
A must read for anyone who was as obsessed with the Titanic as I was when I was a kid. A great, genuine, detailed, touching and true account of this horrible tragedy.
"As the sea closed over the Titanic, Lady Cosmo Duff Gordon in boat 1 remarked to her
secretary Miss Francate ...more

I really can't decide what the best rating for this book would be. It's an amazing recollection of first-hand experiences from the night the Titanic went down. The Titanic is one of my favorite stories from history. Might have come from seeing it in theaters as a kid, but I'm not 100% certain. But this book is far more interesting than the movie, only because it's true.
It's interesting to hear just how calm everyone was up until people started physically seeing the water inside the ship. Even t ...more
It's interesting to hear just how calm everyone was up until people started physically seeing the water inside the ship. Even t ...more

This has been on my TBR list for a while, but I felt an urge to get it read earlier this year, given that I was going on a cruise myself. I decided it would be best left until after I returned, just in case it made me a little edgy!!
It was an interesting read, although there wasn’t anything of major importance that I wasn’t already aware of - but still amazing to think that people were firmly convinced that the Titanic was unsinkable. Although, having cruised on a large ocean liner now myself, I ...more
It was an interesting read, although there wasn’t anything of major importance that I wasn’t already aware of - but still amazing to think that people were firmly convinced that the Titanic was unsinkable. Although, having cruised on a large ocean liner now myself, I ...more

They say that this book is the definitive source when it comes to the story of Titanic and I agree. I learned so much details from this book that I did not see in the James Cameron 1997 hit. Even if I watched that movie 20+ times (and still occasionally have that urge), I still had that insatiable need to know more about what happened. But when I finally closed this book? Enough, I said. I'm truly satiated.
A Night to Remember is 1955 Walter Lord's (1917-2002) non-fiction work detailing what happ ...more
A Night to Remember is 1955 Walter Lord's (1917-2002) non-fiction work detailing what happ ...more

Lord delivers a riveting account of a tragedy that symbolized the end of an age. The Titanic, the grandest of luxury liners, heedlessly speeds forward into the night as the wealthy elite indulge. They meet their destiny in the elemental forces. The Titanic’s demise eerily foreshadows the profound changes coming as the world soon unravels in the Great War. The prevailing confidence that man can control nature and his fate is shattered. A far more uncertain world is revealed.
The actions of the cr ...more
The actions of the cr ...more

Walter Lord's immensely factual 1955 book about the sinking of the Titanic gave rise to an absolutely first-rate British semi-documentary film of the same name (1958), and has served as source authority to most sinking-of books and movies ever since, at least in part.
While some aspects of the doomed liner's design, manufacture and demise are known to us that were not known to author Lord, lately the "revelations" have tended toward conspiracy theories and relative minutiae such as criticizing t ...more
While some aspects of the doomed liner's design, manufacture and demise are known to us that were not known to author Lord, lately the "revelations" have tended toward conspiracy theories and relative minutiae such as criticizing t ...more

From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
Walter Lord's retelling of the fatal voyage of the Titanic, read by Martin Jarvis.
1/10. As the RMS Titanic sails to New York, an iceberg is spotted.
2/10. The Titanic's captain tries to discover how badly the ship's been damaged by the iceberg.
3/10. The stricken passengers of the RMS Titanic leave their cabins and head to the ship's decks.
4/10. As the sinking Titanic issues an SOS, women and children are ordered into the lifeboats.
5/10. With only women and children allowed ...more
Walter Lord's retelling of the fatal voyage of the Titanic, read by Martin Jarvis.
1/10. As the RMS Titanic sails to New York, an iceberg is spotted.
2/10. The Titanic's captain tries to discover how badly the ship's been damaged by the iceberg.
3/10. The stricken passengers of the RMS Titanic leave their cabins and head to the ship's decks.
4/10. As the sinking Titanic issues an SOS, women and children are ordered into the lifeboats.
5/10. With only women and children allowed ...more

4.5 stars
Such a riveting book about the sinking of the titanic. This book is full of tragedy : third class passengers being locked below, life boats not full, not enough life boats, ignored warnings about ice, massive loss of life, etc. But it was also about heroism. The band playing until the very end, the men who stayed behind to keep sending out SOS messages knowing that by doing so they would surely not survive. Walter Lord did an amazing amount of research in writing this book. He interview ...more
Such a riveting book about the sinking of the titanic. This book is full of tragedy : third class passengers being locked below, life boats not full, not enough life boats, ignored warnings about ice, massive loss of life, etc. But it was also about heroism. The band playing until the very end, the men who stayed behind to keep sending out SOS messages knowing that by doing so they would surely not survive. Walter Lord did an amazing amount of research in writing this book. He interview ...more

This book, published first in 1955, is a treasure trove of information about that fateful night on the Titanic. It is really well written and you feel as if you are right there in the midst of the disaster. I've watched quite a few documentaries about the Titanic and really enjoyed this book as well. I highly recommend it. I plan to get other books by Walter Lord as he was a wonderful, nonfiction writer.
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This was written in 1955 when there wasn't the obsession with the Titanic that has resulted in the numerous amount of books, documentaries and movies in our culture. So it's kind of like the first "real deal" Buck about the topic. Besides that, it's written in an extremely engaging fashion! It's not tedious as you would think eyewitness accounts of many people would be. It's riveting and engaging and suspenseful. The author did an excellent job! It's a short book I only a hundred and fifty pages
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topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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Play Book Tag: A Night to Remember - Walter Lord / 4 Stars | 3 | 14 | Aug 25, 2017 05:11PM | |
Play Book Tag: A Night to Remember / Watler Lord - 5***** | 3 | 28 | Apr 07, 2017 04:55AM | |
Irony in A Night To Remember | 8 | 101 | Jan 04, 2015 05:19AM |
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“The Titanic woke them up. Never again would they be quite so sure of themselves. In technology especially, the disaster was a terrible blow. Here was the "unsinkable ship" -- perhaps man's greatest engineering achievement -- going down the first time it sailed.
But it went beyond that. If this supreme achievement was so terribly fragile, what about everything else? If wealth mean so little on this cold April night, did it mean so much the rest of the year?”
—
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But it went beyond that. If this supreme achievement was so terribly fragile, what about everything else? If wealth mean so little on this cold April night, did it mean so much the rest of the year?”
“Overriding everything else, the Titanic also marked the end of a general feeling of confidence.”
—
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