Description
On April 18, 1912 at 9:30 p.m., the liner Carpathia docked in New York. On board were the 711 survivors of the Titanic. In the night, photographers’ flashes project a pale light onto dazed faces.
Tens of thousands of people are gathered on the quays. A man breaks through the crowd, it is Senator Smith. He has just been appointed chairman of the American Senatorial Commission of inquiry which is to shed light on the causes and circumstances of the tragedy.
For more than a month, assisted by six other senators, he will collect the testimony of the main witnesses of the sinking: officers, sailors, officials of the shipping company owning the ship, and first and third-class passengers. The stories told by survivors are heartbreaking. They depict the cowardice of some, and the incredible courage of others, between horror and burlesque, tragic and incongruous. But above all, these survivors must overcome the weight of guilt, face the gaze of others, and answer their questions: why are they alive when so many others will never return?
Based on numerous archival documents, most of which are previously unpublished in French, Bernard Géniès and France Huser have retraced the film of these incredible days which forged the legend of the Titanic.
Bernard Géniès and France Huser are journalists at Nouvel Observateur. In 1995, they published La Nuit de l’iceberg, the novel about the sinking of the Titanic, by Fayard.
Biographie de l’auteur
BERNARD GÉNIÈS est rédacteur en chef adjoint du Nouvel Observateur où il dirige le service Arts et spectacles”. Il est l’auteur avec France Huser de La Nuit de l’Iceberg (1997) et des Rescapés du Titanic (1999). Il a également traduit plusieurs romans de la littérature américaine contemporaine.
BERNARD GÉNIÈS is deputy editor-in-chief of Le Nouvel Observateur where he directs the Arts and Entertainment department. He is the author with France Huser of The Night of the Iceberg (1997) and Rescapés du Titanic (1999).
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