Titanic: Minute by Minute: One Ship's Final Hours, Thousands of Live in the Balance

I saw a passenger reading this on one of my flights and asked her if it was any good. She told me that it was the best Titanic book she had read. That night I ordered it and was not disappointed. I devoured it in one day. What I especially like about this book is it tells you what happened to the survivors after the disaster. Not just the rich and famous but everyone that gets mentioned in the book. So it becomes an emotional experience as well. Well written. Well researched and thoroughly enjoyable. Order it now.

I suffer from a terrible habit of reading the first few chapters of a book, and then completely forgetting about it. I was a little worried that it would quickly be the case with Titanic: Minute by Minute. However, the reviews were all very positive, and I have always had a fascination with ships and ship wrecks, Titanic being a definite favourite. The book arrived very quickly, considering I had 3-5 day delivery, it arrived within 2 days, stating that I had been given 48hr delivery. From the moment you open the book, you are instantly drawn in by Mayo's great style of writing. It pretty much is "minute by minute", and the first part of the book focuses deeply on many passengers from different walks of life, and great detail of the Titanic herself. The book remains factual, but is also very interesting, which is great. It really feels like you are right there, watching everything unfold. One thing I will say, is that the actual collision with the iceberg, doesn't happen until about 100 pages in, which made me feel a little impatient, but it is well worth it. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the Titanic, and wants to know more away without being bored to tears. I actually have a few friends lining up to borrow this once I am done! This is definitely a book that I will finish.

I've read over 25 books on the Titanic from all different angles and I have to say that this is the best book I've ever read on the subject. It's like watching a movie where every moment from the Sunday morning through to the collision to the sinking is being shown to you. I was so drawn into the moment that I actually had to put the book down and compose myself at the minute of the actual collision, and I found myself crying when it finally sank. No other book on the Titanic has ever brought up such emotions or displayed it in such reality. I would highly recommend this book, it truly is amazing!

Great account of a disaster that leaves behind a lot of lessons for posterity. Planning any enterprise without keeping God in the center can be disastrous. And also how some simple lives can be lived extraordinarily well and courageously.

For those looking for an easy layout and factual account of Titanic's tragic voyage during the night of April 14th and 15th 1912, Jonathan Mayo's new book takes you to the event as it happened. His BBC programme in April 2012 (which I was one of the historians present) was a stunning audio journey of the unsinkable legend which, following airing had to at some stage be adapted for book form. Jonathan Mayo has done just that. Using survivor accounts to chronicle the events as they happened and layout to the reader the tragic sinking from those who were there. The more techie Titanic collector or reader will find this release like others previously published with the use of survivor accounts. However, this book would work extremely well for those who are not only starting out on learning about Titanic but also want a easy to follow account of the disaster with factual content. My only critism is that although there are a smattering of images within the book a number captioned as Titanic are in fact her older sister Olympic.