Titanic and the Mystery Ship: A Review.
This book was first published privately by the author in 2002 with the title A Ship Accused. Tempus Publishing has just released a completely revised, reedited and somewhat expanded edition, with this new title. Like the original, this is a no holds barred critique of the "mystery ship" debate, with emphasis on exonerating the Californian as being the ringer.
Anyone who has read my review of A Ship Accused knows how highly I respected that work. If there was any flaw, it was that Molony's style of writing could be somewhat rambling and disjointed at times. This updated version, masterfully reedited and revised, corrects this flaw by composing the author's arguments into an even tighter point by point examination of his evidence. No real surprise as Molony is a professional journalist for Ireland's largest selling daily newspaper. It is a pleasure to watch his writing talents mature.
The images in the original work were also somewhat less than could be desired, not a flaw, but the necessity of an individual publishing his own work, and the resulting tradeoff of quality versus budget. This new edition, with the resources of a publisher behind it, corrects this issue as well. There are 32 plates produced with excellent clarity, as well as quality detailed illustrations within the text.
One complaint already mentioned elsewhere, is that the point size of the text is quite small, and this is a true statement. Us "elderly challenged" folks need cheater glasses to read this book with any ease. But again, this cannot be considered a flaw as the volume of text is just extraordinary. Considering the high cost of paper today, reducing the size of the type was the only way to bring the entire book to within a page limit that could afford to be published.
Molony takes the reader on a step by logical step guided tour of the evidence, explaining each detail in clear and concise language purposefully adopted for the casual reader. He is not afraid to take on opposing theories, giving evidence taken primarily from the original inquiries, the words of the men and women who were there, to show equally reasonable alternate explanations.
So has the ultimate mystery ship book been written? Depends on which side of this debate you fall on. Those who believe Californian was the mystery ship will remain unconvinced. Those who think otherwise will consider it to be a slam dunk, case closed. Without taking sides, all I intend to say is that this is the most comprehensive, detailed account of the mystery ship debate that has even been printed. It simply blows every previous book out of the water. That's not to say that an equally powerful book for the opposing point of view couldn't be written; but it hasn't been - yet.
In any event, whether pro or con, if you are interested in this convoluted subject, Titanic and the Mystery Ship is a must have book for your collection.
all the best, Michael (TheManInBlack) T