Titanic: Victims and Villains

By Senan Molony

Why is so much heroism attached to the sinking of the Titanic? Why do we accord impossible glory to the miserable, misbegotten drowining of the equivalent of a small town? What process led to the creation of champions? Who were the real heroes, and how were they overlooked? What did society - and the press - do with an overriding need for blame? By identifying the fable-making, and finally throwing off a blanket of boasting, this book enables a fresh, sharp focus on history's most famous shipwreck.

We see into the nature of prejudice, public values and political and national motives. It explores the light and the dark of what we thin we know: about the engineers, the musicians, the Captain, his officers, owners and officialdom - as well as the sinking itself and society's curious 'celebration' of abject catastrophe. It also looks at sacrificial victims, in particular the character of Captain Stanley Lord of the Californian, a man tarred with abandoning fifteen hundred people to their fate. Backed up with a new photographic archive and bolstered by a series of contemporary extracts to support its arguments, this is Titanic history presented in an entirely new and authentic light.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Aug 31, 2011
• ISBN: 9780752467559

Senan Molony

Senan Molony was born in Dublin in August 1963. He has worked for the Irish Press, Evening Herald, Star and Irish Independent, and is currently Political Editor of the Irish Daily Mail. A national award-winning journalist, Senan has over thirty-five years’ experience, with wide exposure to tribunals, hearings and inquiries. He has led and featured in a number of TV documentaries and addressed conventions of the British, Belfast and Titanic International societies. Senan has discussed the Titanic in interviews on CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, NPR, RTE and other stations internationally, and lectured on memorial voyages to mark the centenaries of the sinkings of the Titanic, Lusitania and Britannic, as well as working as a host for the Titanic Channel. He lives in Dublin with wife Brigid, daughters Pippa and Millie, and son Mossy. His other books include: The Irish Aboard Titanic; Lusitania: An Irish Tragedy; Titanic and the Mystery Ship; The Phoenix Park Murders; Titanic: Victims and Villains; Titanic Scandal: The Trial of the Mount Temple, and Titanic Unseen.