Selected Books about Titanic's Passengers and Crew

Wednesday will mark the 103rd anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. The first and last voyage of the famous liner has captivated the minds of the public since the moment the news of its sinking reached the shore. For the past century, everything from films, history books, novels, plays, and even merchandise have found their way into the hearts and homes of those with a fascination for the doomed ship--whether they are interested in its its structure and mechanics, its role in maritime history, the miniature display of Edwardian society that filled its decks, or the lives and deaths of the passengers and crew.

The men and women who survived or died during the tragedy have left varied legacies. But regardless of where life took them after the tragedy--back to the sea, in the case of most crew members, or onward through the 20th century--there is no denying that history wants to remember them.

There are countless numbers of books about the Titanic--from broad histories to 21st century retrospectives and everything in between. Some of these books have even been written by the survivors of the disaster, including the works by Lawrence Beesley and Archibald Gracie, which are arguably the most often quoted books written by survivors.

But the passengers and crew haven't been ignored by historians, either. In addition to firsthand accounts, biographies and histories focusing on the people who survived, and the people who were lost that night, have been published since shortly after the ship sank.

The following are some selected books about the Titanic's passengers and crew. It is by no means comprehensive!

Memoirs/Firsthand Accounts

Titanic Survivor by Violet Jessop
Shadow of the Titanic: A Survivor's Story, a Biography of Miss Eva Hart by Eva Hart
The Truth About the Titanic by Archibald Gracie
The Loss of the SS Titanic by Lawrence Beesley 
Titanic: A Survivor's Story by Jack Thayer


Biographies

Thomas Andrews, Voyage into History : Titanic Secrets Revealed Through the Eyes of Her Builder by William C. Barnes
How to Survive the Titanic: or, The Sinking of J. Bruce Ismay by Frances Wilson
The Man Who Sank Titanic: The Troubled Life of Quartermaster Robert Hichens by Sally Nilsson
Molly Brown: Unraveling the Myth by Kristen Iversen
The Band That Played on: The Extraordinary Story of the 8 Musicians Who Went Down with the Titanic by Steve Turner
And the Band Played On: The Titanic Violinist & the Glovemaker: A True Story of Love, Loss & Betrayal by Christopher Ward

Other

Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage: The Titanic's First-Class Passengers and their World by Hugh Brewster
Titanic: Women and Children First by Judith B. Geller
The Story of the Titanic As Told by Its Survivors by Jack Winocour
Shadow of the Titanic: The Extraordinary Stories of Those Who Survived by Andre Wilson 
Titanic Voices by Hannah Holman

Review: The Creation of Anne Boleyn

Who was Anne Boleyn? For centuries, the second wife of Henry VIII has been the subject of countless interpretations--fictional, biographical and everything in between. She has been cast in every possible role--as heroine and villain, as hapless victim of Henry's whims and political harbinger of her own tragic fate, as religious martyr and demonic temptress. Her story, retold countless times, continues to fascinate and inspire countless writers, artists, historians and readers.

The Creation of Anne Boleyn looks at the many metamorphoses of Anne Boleyn throughout history, which have manifested in historical works, literature and popular culture. In the first section of the book, author Susan Bordo revisits the real life of Anne Boleyn by discussing (and challenging) some of the commonly held beliefs about Anne; many of the beliefs that Bordo challenges come straight from the correspondence of one of Anne's most volatile enemies at court, the ambassador Chapuys. In challenging the facts about Anne Boleyn presented by Chapuys, Bordo also challenges many historians--modern and otherwise--who rely perhaps too heavily on Chapuys' correspondence for their interpretation of Anne Boleyn's life.

The second and third sections of the book tackles Anne Boleyn's many fictional representations after her death, including her portrayal in literature, theater and, more recently, film and television. Bordo looks primarily at Anne's portrayal in Anne of a Thousand Days, The Tudors, and The Other Boleyn Girl; brief mentions of other film and TV interpretations are also included.

In discussing how Anne has been revisited over the centuries in these fictional works, Bordo looks at broader social, political and entertainment trends that have influenced the way Anne has been depicted; despite the more recent historiography of Anne Boleyn challenging the notion of Anne as a shrewd vixen-like character, this type of Anne Boleyn, who seduces Henry VIII for her own gain and gets a 'comeuppance' in the end, has swung back around in the last decade or so with works such as The Other Boleyn Girl and in some respects, Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies novels.

The Creation of Anne Boleyn is an essential book for anyone with an interest in Anne Boleyn; it is also of interest to anyone who loves to study historiography and historical figures in popular culture.

Book Finds: Upcoming Japanese History Releases in 2014

Hello to the new year! And hello to the many books that will find their way onto store shelves and online shopping sites in the coming year.  The following is a small selection of some of the Japanese history books set for publication in 2014 that I find particularly intriguing.

Samurai Revolution: The Dawn of Modern Japan Seen Through the Eyes of the Shogun's Last Samurai by Romulous Hillsborough [Tuttle Publishing, 25 March 2014]

Amazon.com Synopsis: 

Samurai Revolution tells the fascinating story of Japan's transformation from a backward country of feudal lords and samurai under the control of the shogun into a modern industrialized nation under the unifying rule of the Emperor. Japan's modern revolution spanned the third-quarter of the nineteenth century; knowledge of this history is essential to understand how and why Japan evolved into the nation it is today. ...

Kimono: A Modern History by Terry Satsuki Milhaupt [Reaktion Books, 15 May 2014]

Amazon.com Synopsis:

What is the kimono? Is it an everyday garment? An art object? An icon of Asian femininity? A symbol of Japan? In Kimono, Terry Satsuki Milhaupt vividly explores how these full-length robes have served all of these roles, revealing how their meaning has transformed over time. ... Written to accompany the kimono exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in September 2014, this sumptuously illustrated book tells the incredible story of a single garment and provides a fascinating new perspective on Japan’s modernization and encounter with the West.

The Sarashina Diary: A Woman's Life in Eleventh-Century Japan by Sonja Arntzen and Moriyuki Ito [Columbia University Press, 22 July 2014]

Amazon.com Description:

A thousand years ago, a young Japanese girl embarked on a journey from the wild East Country to the capital. She began a diary that she would continue to write for the next forty years and compile later in life, bringing lasting prestige to her family. ... The Sarashina Diary is a portrait of the writer as reader and a tribute to the power of reading to shape one's expectations and aspirations. As a person and an author, this writer presages the medieval era in Japan with her deep concern for Buddhist belief and practice. Her narrative's main thread follows a trajectory from youthful infatuation with romantic fantasy to the disillusionment of age and concern for the afterlife; yet, at the same time, many passages erase the dichotomy between literary illusion and spiritual truth.

Review: Toulouse-Lautrec and La Vie Moderne, Paris 1880-1910

What did it mean to celebrate "la vie moderne" at the end of 19th century Paris? Toulouse-Lautrec and La Vie Moderne, which accompanies a traveling exhibition of the same name, seeks to explore the lives and works of numerous avant-garde artists who lived, worked and breathed the fin de siècle era.

The culture in Paris at the end of the 19th century seemed almost designed to host the vast artistic explorations, interpretations and experimentation that the city's many artists were producing at the time. Some of the most popular subjects during this 30 year period were of the city's artistic underside: its cabarets, circuses, even brothels; intimate scenes, such as domestic life or private moments, were also commonplace.  

Toulouse-Lautrec and La Vie Moderne explores the artists, and their work, who re-imagined life in painting, sculpture and other ephemera in a fresh, modern way at the edge of the new century. The scope of the book is quite vast and includes substantial sections on Realism/Naturalism, Entertainment and Performance, Symbolism/Abstraction and Portraits. There are also some sub-categories in the larger sections, such as Daily Life, Landscapes and Toulouse-Lautrec. Each section features reproductions of artwork, with most of the images reproduced in larger sized and accompanied by biographical and analytical information. The information is written clearly and is accessible for general readers in addition to those with an interest or background in art history.

 

image: Lucie Cousturier at the Piano by Maximilien Luce

credit: my photograph

One of the paintings that immediately caught my eye while reading was Lucie Cousturier at the Piano by Maximilien Luce. This painting of an intimate daily scene, completed around 1905, is a striking portrait that speaks in color. The woman in the portrait was not just a random art model, but a woman known in the Neo-Impressionist circles of Paris. In addition to her work arranging art exhibitions, she produced her own artwork, mostly landscapes and still life paintings. She was also an accomplished art historian and published several studies on some of her prolific contemporary painters, such as Seurat, Signac and Henri-Edmond Cross.

Maximilien Luce, the artist, was a close friend of Lucie and painted her more than once. This particular portrait of her stands out because of its broad, impressive use of color. Everything from her clothing to the walls and even to the piano itself is showcased with impressions of color using wider brush strokes to give the impression of shadows, objects and even folds in fabric. The vibrant reds, blues, greens and whites play on each other to create a colorful, stylized image of a simple, daily scene: a young woman playing the piano.

 

image: Le Divan Japonais by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

credit: my photograph

Of course, the highlight of the book is the thirty-page (or so) section on Toulouse-Lautrec and his work. An entire review could be written solely on this well-illustrated section! One of my favorite 'Lautrec' pieces featured in the book is Le Divan Japonais, a poster created to celebrate the famous Divan Japonais cafe/cabaret. Divan Japonais came at a time when the Japonisme style, influenced by Japanese art and aesthetics, was heavily in vogue among European artists.

Toulouse-Lautrec's poster depicts Edouard Dujardin, a symbolist writer, accompanied by dancer Jane Avril; the pair are viewing a concert performed by Yvette Guilbert, well known for her signature full-length black gloves. Toulouse-Lautrec's use of color in this poster is similar to other Japonisme-inspired pieces produced around the same time, which often feature monochromatic color schemes accented with pops of brighter colors. Another poster featured in the Toulouse-Lautrec section of the book, 'Jane Avril,' features a similar "Japanese" inspired color scheme.

These are just two of the many pieces of art featured in Toulouse-Lautrec and La Vie Moderne. I highly recommended this lavish exhibition album for anyone with an interest in 'la vie moderne,' French art history, or simply "art" itself!

[A review copy of this book was given to me by the publisher in exchange for my opinion.]