Shadow of the Titanic: The Extraordinary Stories of Those Who Survived

By Andrew Wilson

In the early hours of 15 April 1912, after the majestic liner Titanic had split apart and the 1,500 men, women and children struggled to stay alive in the freezing Atlantic, the sea was alive with the sound of screaming. Then, as the ship sank to the ocean floor and the passengers slowly died from hypothermia, a deathly silence settled over the sea. Yet the echoes of that night reverberated through the lives of each of the 705 survivors. SURVIVING THE TITANIC tells the extraordinary stories of some of those who survived.

Although we think we know the story of the Titanic - the famously unsinkable ship that hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Britain to America in April 1912 - little has been written about what happened to the survivors after the tragedy. How did the loss of the ship shape the lives of the people who survived? How did those who were saved feel about those who perished? And how did they remember that terrible night, in effect a disaster that has been likened to the destruction of a small town?

Timed to coincide with the 100thanniversary of the sinking, SURVIVING THE TITANIC will shed new light on this enduringly fascinating story by showing how the disaster continued to shape the lives of a cross-section of passengers who escaped the sinking ship.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: Oct 27, 2011
• ISBN: 9781847377326

Andrew Wilson

Andrew Wilson is an award-winning journalist and author. His work has appeared in a wide variety of publications including the Guardian, the Washington Post, the Sunday Times, and the Smithsonian Magazine. He is the author of four acclaimed biographies, a book about the survivors of the Titanic, and the novels The Lying Tongue, A Talent for Murder, A Different Kind of Evil, and Death in a Desert Land.

Reviews for Shadow of the Titanic

[kslade-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Extremely interesting stories of what happened to survivors of the Titanic. There were a handful of suicides, some became obsessive about it, and some had normal lives. Totally worth reading.

[jeb5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An incredible collection of survivor stories that have been blended with biographical research into an addictive and highly readable tale of what happened to those who survived the sinking of the Titanic. Andrew Wilson has taken the stories of the survivors that we know and thoroughly details inconsistencies, realities, and the motivations/reasons of the survivors. Some of these stories are beyond tragic while others provide hope in the determination to survive and live life for those who had perished so tragically that April night in 1912. This is a book that will fill in the blank left in Titanic history of what happened to the survivors after they stepped off the Carpathia and onto the pier in New York City. It will captivate all readers with its interwoven stories.

[suzanne_mitchell-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really enjoyed this oneBook DescriptionRelease date: March 26, 2013We think we know the story of the Titanic—the once majestic and supposedly unsinkable ship that struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Britain to America—but very little has been written about the vessel’s 705 survivors. How did the events of that horrific night in the icy waters of the North Atlantic affect the lives of those who lived to tell the tale? Drawing on a wealth of previously unpublished letters, memoirs, diaries, and interviews with their family members, award-winning journalist Andrew Wilson brings to life the survivors’ colorful voices, from the famous, like heiress Madeleine Astor, to the lesser known second-and third-class passengers, such as the Navratil brothers, who were traveling under assumed names because they were being abducted by their father. More than one hundred years after that fateful voyage, Shadow of the Titanic adds an important new dimension to this enduringly captivating story. Show less

[planetmut · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Thoroughly enjoyable and fascinating, but I did get the impression that a couple of chapters were padded out. Nevertheless it's a great book.

[elizajane_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Reason for Reading: I belong the Titanic Reading Challenge and have had a life long interest in the Titanic.An exciting non-fiction read that concentrates on the people aboard the Titanic who survived and what became of them. Starting with a chapter on the sinking itself and then devoting another chapter to the rescue aboard the Carpathia the book then devotes a chapter each to either one lone survivor or those related by a certain theme such as a later chapter in the book called "The Dark Side of Survival" which recounts the lives of several survivors who ended up committing suicide. All the famous survivors are given their spot in this book such as the Duff Gordons, concentrating on Lady, Madeliene Astor, Bruce Ismay, Jack Thayer, Dorothy Gibson, Edith Rosenbaum, etc. Also some more obscure stories of people who weren't famous to begin with or didn't become so until afterwards are told and these little tidbits are the most interesting to me. The author has had access to a plethora of documents and includes many quotes from unpublished memoirs of survivors, which really bring the history of these people alive. Wilson also keeps heavily in mind the Edwardian society and ideology of the time and how the Titanic was a symbol of this, and its sinking was the beginning of the end of these idealized "happy" days and strict class systems. A riveting read that keeps one glued to the pages even when one knows the Titanic story quite well to begin with.