I have an annual tradition of reading something Titanic related during the week of April 15th. I do read things at other times as well but this particular week is just special. This year marks the 110th anniversary of the Titanic sinking on that early morning of April 15th, 1912. To honor this date, author Simon Medhurst decided to put together a book about the Titanic. As there are many books already written on this topic, he chose to go a different way with his research. In Titanic Day By Day: 366 Days With The Titanic there are first hand accounts, newspaper articles and facts about the Titanic. What is unique about this book is that there is also a list of all the passengers of the Titanic with the day they were born and the day that they died. It also tells you what lifeboat the passenger was on or if they were a Titanic victim.
Titanic Day By Day is very well researched. As I was reading along, I could tell what a passion project this was for the researchers. The approach was so unique. It was also really interesting to me that Simon Medhurst is a direct descendent of Titanic passenger Robert Hutchen. Robert Hutchen was the man behind the wheel when the ship hit the iceberg. He is also the authors great grandfather and this book is in honor of him.
While I was reading I highlight a few facts that I found interesting and I didn’t necessarily already know. The first was that fourteen passengers on Titanic were from County Mayo, Ireland. Only three of these passengers survived. Since 2002 there is a bell ringing service that takes place at St. Patrick’s cathedral in Lahardane. It starts at 2:20am (time of the sinking) and lasts for one hour. I think this is such beautiful way to honor those passengers. The second thing that made me pause and think was thee there were 14,000 gallons of drinking water consumed each day on the Titanic. This would be 224,000 cups of water distributed every 24 hours. That’s alot of cups and water!
The final thing that cause me to think is something I’ve read before. It comes from Walter Lord’s book A Night To Remember and it’s quote “if wealth meant so little on this cold April night, did it mean so much for the rest of the year.” Wealth did help in the sinking of the Titanic as there were many more first class passengers who were able to secure a place in a lifeboat. Sadly by the time third class passengers were given the opportunity, the boats were gone. Yet I do understand what Walter Lord is getting at as in the end wealth didn’t save everyone and much of that wealth remains at the bottom of the ocean.
Titanic Day By Day is one of those books you can put on a table in your living room and just randomly skim through. It is very informative and easy to understand. There are also graphics throughout the book. The graphics were hard to see in the e-arc but I look forward to seeing what they look like in the finished product.
Rating: 4 Stars
**I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**
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