The Ship of Dreams: The Sinking of the Titanic and the End of the Edwardian Era

One of the best historical writers in the English-speaking world right now is Gareth Russell. A playwright and a novelist as well as an Oxford-educated historian, Gareth brings his gifts of description and of character analysis, in addition to a scrupulous historicity, to all of his works. I still think that his biography of Catherine Howard Young and Damned and Fair, is one of the best Tudor biographies ever. I also loved his book The Emperors. Gareth's latest book Ship of Dreams reveals the Titanic tragedy as a microcosm of Edwardian society, on the brink of a disaster known as World War One. From Simon and Schuster:

A riveting account of the Titanic disaster and the unraveling of the gilded Edwardian society that had created it. In April 1912, six notable people were among those privileged to experience the height of luxury—first class passage on “the ship of dreams,” the RMS Titanic: Lucy Leslie, Countess of Rothes; son of the British Empire, Tommy Andrews; American captain of industry John Thayer and his son Jack; Jewish-American immigrant Ida Straus; and American model and movie star Dorothy Gibson. Within a week of setting sail, they were all caught up in the horrifying disaster of the Titanic’s sinking, one of the biggest news stories of the century. Today, we can see their stories and the Titanic’s voyage as the beginning of the end of the established hierarchy of the Edwardian era. 

Writing in his elegant signature prose and using previously unpublished sources, deck plans, journal entries, and surviving artifacts, Gareth Russell peers through the portholes of these first-class travelers to immerse us in a time of unprecedented change in British and American history. Through their intertwining lives, he examines social, technological, political, and economic forces such as the nuances of the British class system, the explosion of competition in the shipping trade, the birth of the movie industry, the Irish Home Rule Crisis, and the Jewish-American immigrant experience while also recounting their intimate stories of bravery, tragedy, and selflessness. 

Masterful in its superb grasp of the forces of history, gripping in its moment-by-moment account of the sinking, revelatory in discounting long-held myths, and lavishly illustrated with color and black and white photographs, this absorbing, accessible, and authoritative account of the Titanic’s life and death is destined to become the definitive book on the subject. (Read more.)

It is said that when Marie-Antoinette was in the Conciergerie awaiting her trial she read about famous shipwrecks and sea voyages to distract herself from her dire situation. In the midst of a pandemic and civil upheavals, reading Ship of Dreams was a refuge for me on many levels. The vivid descriptions of the floating palace that was the Titanic make it live again more than any movie ever could. The accounts from actual passengers, woven together in a flowing narrative, give an in-depth view of manners, customs, dress and human trauma, surpassing any novel. As an historical researcher I am in awe of the author's investigation and use of primary sources which take the reader from the shipyards of Belfast to the Deep South to Imperial Russia and many other places.

Most moving to me is the story of Leo and Ida Strauss, the elderly couple who refused to be separated as the ship was sinking. Leo Strauss was from a prominent Jewish family and had been a blockade runner during the Civil War. He became a prosperous businessman with a large family and he and Mrs Strauss traveled extensively for business and pleasure. They were returning early from a European sojourn to settle some business in New York City, which was their home. Their courage and dignity during the disaster was commented on by many of the survivors. I am also struck by the courage of Lady Rothes, who was the ranking British aristocrat on board. Lady Rothes, a truly great lady, comforted and encouraged the other passengers. After her rescue she immediately got to work making clothes from the blankets of the Carpathia for the freezing Irish children. The Carpathia was the ship that rescued the survivors of the Titanic.

Gareth clears up many myths and legends about why the Titanic sank and why so many people died, especially the lifeboat issue, which always surfaces when discussing the calamity. Any rumors about shoddy workmanship are dispersed as well. The sinking of the ship can be attributed to nothing but the foolishness of the captain who insisted on surging full speed ahead through an iceberg field, which he had been warned about. The White Star Line had promised passengers that safety was to be put ahead of speed and those passengers were betrayed in the most hideous manner possible. The shocking loss of life due to one man's folly is just as sickening now as it was over a hundred years ago. The sinking of the Titanic was almost an opening salvo for the debacles which were to characterize the twentieth century, which would include wars, tyranny and an unprecedented loss of life. As the beauty that was the Titanic foundered in the Atlantic, so did the gilded age of prosperity, glamour and invention perish in the conflagration of the Great War.

(The book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.)

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