The Birth of the Titanic

Description

Titanic is the most famous ship in history. The story of her fatal maiden voyage is one of the epic tales of the twentieth century.

This is a visual chronicle of that almost superhuman achievement, explaining clearly in words and pictures all the main stages of construction – concept, design, the erection of gigantic twin gantries for Titanic and her sister ship Olympic, keel-laying, framing, plating, launching the hull, installing the vast engines and the final fitting out of the passenger accommodation, from sumptuous first class to emigrant steerage.

But even before she sailed in 1912 she was making headlines as the world’s largest ship, symbolising in her luxury, elegance and leading-edge technology all the confidence and certainties of her era.

Built at Harland & Wolff’s massive shipyard in Belfast, Titanic took four years, and the expertise of thousands of skilled men, to complete.

Written and compiled by an internationally recognised expert, The Birth of the Titanic provides rare insights and perspectives on the great liner and her time.

Stunning contemporary pictures from the official Harland & Wolff photographic archive; informative, accurate captions; lucid, authoritative text placing Titanic in her industrial and social context; extracts from newspapers, journals and White Star publicity all combine to give an almost uncanny impression of the period, and the pride and excitement felt in Belfast and the north of Ireland as the vast leviathan took shape.

Also covering the departure from Belfast, the embarkation at Southampton, the disastrous collision with the iceberg and the frantic rescue attempts, and concluding with a profoundly moving description of how the shipyard men of Belfast received the dreadful news, this remarkable book from the homeland of Titanic is a unique contribution to the ongoing story of the great lost ship.