I had a sneak preview of this book, written by Dr.Ballard and Ain Coutts, while at a publisher's premises this week.
The title is somewhat pompous, and IMHO, none of the images can be described as "Great". The pictures are obviously digitally sourced, as they are from HD images taken during Ballard's last voyage, and the amount of "blow-up" of the images reveal the pixels and a lack of detail. Some of the photos are so murky that the detail is completely lost, and the pixels make the background a murky wash of green, blue and red. There are two photos which clearly show this: a shot of the bow, taken from 20-30 feet away, so illumination is poor; another photo is the A deck port-side promenade, looking aft. A lot of the pictures have been seen in the National Geographic and Return to the Titanic.
The text leaves something to be desired, and demonstrates Ballard's continued anti-salvage stance. Also, in his description of the crow's nest, showing a 1985 Angus picture, Ballard says that the photo shows "The crow's nest as it looked when I discovered the ship in 1985." Thats right, "I", no mentioned of "we".
Ballard says of the foremast; "The sad part is the missing crow's nest. Someone knocked it off. I wont say who, but in one of those expeditions to the wreck, at one point, if you watch their documentary, they show the crow's nest intact, and then later on they show it missing. They don't say anything but isn't it odd that during one dive it's there, and then its not?"
He later on notes that "since [his first trips to the wreck], the crow's nest has been torn away , and salvagers have taken both the masthead light and the telephone."
Of Captain Smith's quarters, Ballard writes: "That bulkhead was upright in 1986. Some people would say that its natural decay. Is it? Its almost impossible to say for sure, but to me its clear that the damage has been accelerated by human activity." He also places the blames on a lot of the alleged damage squarely with submarines.
He also brings up the story of his original plaque: "Someone took the plaque we left on the bow [sic] back in 1986, so we left a replacement ... I don't want to say exactly where because someone will take it."
All of the above comments have generated great debate, and some are highly dubious. One story (the salvage of the telephone from the crows nest) is a 100% falsehood.
My opinion? One for completists only. There are better books out there.
Publisher: Haynes/Madison
Cost £25
ISBN: 978 1 85260 615 2
Cheers
Paul
Pre-order my Titanic ebook at http://www.paullee.com/book_details.php
The title is somewhat pompous, and IMHO, none of the images can be described as "Great". The pictures are obviously digitally sourced, as they are from HD images taken during Ballard's last voyage, and the amount of "blow-up" of the images reveal the pixels and a lack of detail. Some of the photos are so murky that the detail is completely lost, and the pixels make the background a murky wash of green, blue and red. There are two photos which clearly show this: a shot of the bow, taken from 20-30 feet away, so illumination is poor; another photo is the A deck port-side promenade, looking aft. A lot of the pictures have been seen in the National Geographic and Return to the Titanic.
The text leaves something to be desired, and demonstrates Ballard's continued anti-salvage stance. Also, in his description of the crow's nest, showing a 1985 Angus picture, Ballard says that the photo shows "The crow's nest as it looked when I discovered the ship in 1985." Thats right, "I", no mentioned of "we".
Ballard says of the foremast; "The sad part is the missing crow's nest. Someone knocked it off. I wont say who, but in one of those expeditions to the wreck, at one point, if you watch their documentary, they show the crow's nest intact, and then later on they show it missing. They don't say anything but isn't it odd that during one dive it's there, and then its not?"
He later on notes that "since [his first trips to the wreck], the crow's nest has been torn away , and salvagers have taken both the masthead light and the telephone."
Of Captain Smith's quarters, Ballard writes: "That bulkhead was upright in 1986. Some people would say that its natural decay. Is it? Its almost impossible to say for sure, but to me its clear that the damage has been accelerated by human activity." He also places the blames on a lot of the alleged damage squarely with submarines.
He also brings up the story of his original plaque: "Someone took the plaque we left on the bow [sic] back in 1986, so we left a replacement ... I don't want to say exactly where because someone will take it."
All of the above comments have generated great debate, and some are highly dubious. One story (the salvage of the telephone from the crows nest) is a 100% falsehood.
My opinion? One for completists only. There are better books out there.
Publisher: Haynes/Madison
Cost £25
ISBN: 978 1 85260 615 2
Cheers
Paul
Pre-order my Titanic ebook at http://www.paullee.com/book_details.php