Public-domain ebook
Language: en1,475 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Children's History·Biographies·History - Modern (1750+)
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #6675.
Lawrence Beesley’s work is a first‑hand historical account of the RMS Titanic disaster, written by a survivor who was asked by the Boston Herald’s editor to set the record straight. The book opens with a detailed recollection of the circumstances that led him to write, including a luncheon with Boston lawyers, a meeting with Houghton Mifflin, and his own notes taken aboard the Carpathia. From there it moves into a systematic outline, construction, the maiden voyage, the collision, the sinking as seen from both deck and lifeboat, the rescue, and the lessons to be learned, augmented by contemporary photographs and technical drawings. Beesley’s narrative is anchored in his personal experience and in the urgency he felt to correct the “highly coloured” accounts circulating in the press.
The prose reflects the early‑20th‑century journalistic style of a learned gentleman, mixing factual description with moral commentary. Its tone is earnest, occasionally didactic, and its language is precise yet accessible to readers familiar with the era’s diction. Those who appreciate meticulous maritime history, primary‑source storytelling, and a reflective perspective on safety reforms will find this volume both informative and compelling.
The opening · free to read
The circumstances in which this book came to be written are as follows. Some five weeks after the survivors from the Titanic landed in New York, I was the guest at luncheon of Hon. Samuel J. Elder and Hon. Charles T. Gallagher, both well-known lawyers in Boston. After luncheon I was asked to relate to those present the experiences of the survivors in leaving the Titanic and reaching the Carpathia.
When I had done so, Mr. Robert Lincoln O'Brien, the editor of the Boston Herald, urged me as a matter of public interest to write a correct history of the Titanic disaster, his reason being that he knew several publications were in preparation by people who had not been present at the disaster, but from newspaper accounts were piecing together a description of it. He said that these publications would probably be erroneous, full of highly coloured details, and generally calculated to disturb public thought on the matter. He was supported in his request by all present, and under this general pressure I accompanied him to Messrs. Houghton Mifflin Company, where we discussed the question of publication.
Messrs. Houghton Mifflin Company took at that time exactly the same view that I did, that it was probably not advisable to put on record the incidents connected with the Titanic's sinking: it seemed better to forget details as rapidly as possible.
However, we decided to take a few days to think about it. At our next meeting we found ourselves in agreement again,--but this time on the common ground that it would probably be a wise thing to write a history of the Titanic disaster as correctly as possible. I was supported in this decision by the fact that a short account, which I wrote at intervals on board the Carpathia, in the hope that it would calm public opinion by stating the truth of what happened as nearly as I could recollect it, appeared in all the American, English, and Colonial papers and had exactly the effect it was intended to have. This encourages me to hope that the effect of this work will be the same.
Another matter aided me in coming to a decision,--the duty that we, as survivors of the disaster, owe to those who went down with the ship, to see that the reforms so urgently needed are not allowed to be forgotten.
Whoever reads the account of the cries that came to us afloat on the sea from those sinking in the ice-cold water must remember that they were addressed to him just as much as to those who heard them, and that the duty, of seeing that reforms are carried out devolves on every one who knows that such cries were heard in utter helplessness the night the Titanic sank.
The book keeps going
Reading is free forever. Sign up and watch scenes appear while you read.
Scenes Storieta drew for other classics.
New illustrated classics
Once or twice a month: the latest books to get full character casts, scene art, and free comic editions. No account needed.
