Product Description:
As the Titanic slid beneath the waves, its owner, J Bruce Ismay, jumped into a lifeboat and was rowed to safety. But if Ismay survived, his reputation did not. Condemned by an inquiry and vilified in the press, he became a guilt-ridden recluse. Drawing on his unpublished letters to Marion Thayer, with whom he had fallen in love on the voyage, this insightful, perceptive account unravels the reasons behind his jump and his struggle to live with its aftermath.
Review:
"Wilson herself casts a Conradian spell...finds submerged truths, unravels riddles, listens to echoes. This book is a deep reading of the catastrophe through one hapless, inert man."--Hermione Eyre, Evening Standard
"It is a pleasure to read a book...that offers something new on this topic. Titanic completists will certainly want this, and also...readers of biography and Edwardian-era history."--Library Journal
"Wilson gives an absorbing account of the disaster and its cultural associations.. . her approach yields a rich meditation on the mere moment's hesitation that separates cowardice from courage."--Publishers Weekly
"The author demonstrates an impressive knowledge of that night to remember. "--Kirkus
"A haunting story...A meticulously researched and eloquently written account of one of the twentieth century's most iconic disasters [that] explores a man 'mired in the moment of his jump.'"--Lucy Scholes, Daily Beast "Must Reads"
"A gripping retrospective on the Titanic disaster seen through the eyes of the wealthy ship's owner...and an inspired interweaving of the moral themes of guilt and responsibility"--Richard Holmes, Wall Street Journal
"A gripping account...Wilson brings a bright new perspective to the event raising provocative moral questions about cowardice and heroism, memory and identity, survival and guilt."--Forbes
"Persuasive...examines the disaster afresh through the prism of Ismay's life...Ultimately, Wilson's portrait-empathetic rather than sympathetic-depicts Ismay as an Everyman troublingly suited to our own uncertain times."--BusinessWeek
Wilson gives an absorbing account of the disaster and its cultural associations.. . her approach yields a rich meditation on the mere moment s hesitation that separates cowardice from courage. --Publishers Weekly"
It is a pleasure to read a book that offers something new on this topic. Titanic completists will certainly want this, and also readers of biography and Edwardian-era history. --Library Journal"
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.