The Ship of Dreams, Gareth Russell
The Ship of Dreams, Gareth Russell
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The Ship of Dreams
The Sinking of the Titanic and the End of the Edwardian Era

Author: Gareth Russell

Narrator: Jenny Funnell

Unabridged: 12 hr 35 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/19/2019


Synopsis

This original and “meticulously researched retelling of history’s most infamous voyage” (Denise Kiernan, New York Times bestselling author) uses the sinking of the Titanic as a prism through which to examine the end of the Edwardian era and the seismic shift modernity brought to the Western world. “While there are many Titanic books, this is one readers will consider a favorite” (Voyage).

In April 1912, six notable people were among those privileged to experience the height of luxury—first class passage on “the ship of dreams,” the RMS Titanic: Lucy Leslie, Countess of Rothes; son of the British Empire Tommy Andrews; American captain of industry John Thayer and his son Jack; Jewish-American immigrant Ida Straus; and American model and movie star Dorothy Gibson. Within a week of setting sail, they were all caught up in the horrifying disaster of the Titanic’s sinking, one of the biggest news stories of the century. Today, we can see their stories and the Titanic’s voyage as the beginning of the end of the established hierarchy of the Edwardian era.

Writing in his signature elegant prose and using previously unpublished sources, deck plans, journal entries, and surviving artifacts, Gareth Russell peers through the portholes of these first-class travelers to immerse us in a time of unprecedented change in British and American history. Through their intertwining lives, he examines social, technological, political, and economic forces such as the nuances of the British class system, the explosion of competition in the shipping trade, the birth of the movie industry, the Irish Home Rule Crisis, and the Jewish-American immigrant experience while also recounting their intimate stories of bravery, tragedy, and selflessness.

This is “a beautiful requiem” (The Wall Street Journal) in which “readers get the story of this particular floating Tower of Babel in riveting detail, and with all the wider context they could want” (Christian Science Monitor).

About Gareth Russell

Educated at Oxford University and Queen’s University, Belfast, Gareth Russell is a historian, novelist, and playwright. He is the author of several books, including The PalaceThe Ship of DreamsYoung and Damned and FairThe Emperors, and Do Let’s Have Another Drink. He lives in Belfast, Northern Ireland. 


Reviews

Goodreads review by Julie on November 17, 2019

I have read multiple books about the Titanic. I've read many, many facts and tales about the building of the ship, the White Star Line and its leaders, the race to build bigger and faster passenger ships in the early 1900s, the passengers, causes of the sinking, the trial and aftermath of the accide......more

Goodreads review by Nancy on July 22, 2019

What is unique about this book is that the sinking of the Titanic is explored within the context of the time period and world events. The Titanic is, at times, peripheral in the story as the author paints a picture of society and world events. Ireland was in the grips of tearing apart with the Prote......more

Goodreads review by Carol on December 26, 2019

I've always been interested in the Titanic. My grandfather worked 8 years after it sank, in Belfast in the ship yard where the great...thought to be unsinkable...ship was constructed. I thought I had read and seen every documentary about the fatal voyage until reading Mr. Russell's account. This is......more


Quotes

"Narrator Jenny Funnell's soft, elegant voice draws listeners into this account of the sinking of the TITANIC, that coincided with the end of the Edwardian era, a time of great change in British history. Focusing on six of the ship's first-class passengers, the author examines a way of life that would be gone forever by the time WWI ended. The story begins at Leslie House, where we meet aristocrat Noel Leslie, who pops up throughout this work. Funnell brings humanity to the devotion between Isidor and Ida Straus, who chose to die together on the ship rather than to have Ida board a lifeboat. Russell also brings in many other accounts of the sinking—from a movie made soon afterward by a surviving actress to James Cameron's computer simulations and exploratory dives."