TITANIC: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY
Text: Don Lynch
Paintings: Ken Marschall
*****
Published by: Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 0-340-56271-4
Binding: Hardback (Softback available)
Pages:227
Price: £30
In my view this is the best Titanic book of recent years. Originally published in 1992,
it gives a history of Titanic from inception to discovery on the ocean floor.
Mr Lynch's writing style is not quite on a par with Walter Lord, but what really makes
this book interesting are the incredible paintings of Ken Marschall.
At 220+ pages in length there is a wealth of information included in the book, however I did
feel that the construction period of the ship was dealt with a little flimsily, as were the
issue of the ship that ignored the Titanic's distress signals. Nevertheless, Don Lynch,
who is historian of the Titanic Historical Society is very knowledgeable, and this does come across.
One word of warning however, at least one of the information boxes is wrong
in this publication. With regard to the nurse of Trevor Allison. Mr Lynch states
that this woman was a convicted murderer. This is quite incorrect. For full details see the page on
Dinah Burnett's "From Workhouse, To Prison, To....The Titanic?"
What was particularly interesting at the time the book was published, were
the two short articles on Titanic's sister ships; Olympic and Britannic.
Since publication both of these ships have been dealt with more thoroughly,
indeed Britannic's story was twisted into a TV movie (to be avoided at all costs!)
A must have for your Titanic library, and an important lesson: even the best researchers
make mistakes.
