Key Figures Aboard RMS Titanic Superstars and Scapegoats by Anthony Nicholas

 This is a beautifully written vivid and empathetic account of the unbelievable bravery of most of the crew on the Titanic, who the author compares with Spartans. He puts himself into their shoes and tries to imagine how they must have felt as the 'unsinkable' ship quickly began to sink. There is the band who bravely played the music of the day to soothe the passengers while chaos raged around them, the radio operators who desperately tried to contact nearby ships as the lights sputtered and flickered, the ship's officers who had to put people into the lifeboats and cope with surging crowds, the stewards and stewardesses and many others. 

Nicholas doesn't shy away from the controversial characters like J. Bruce Ismay and Captain Smith, but deals with them compassionately. He understandably hammers the mean Blacks, the agency responsible for treating the band and the band members' families abominably, but they're about the only ones who he criticises severely. This is a must-read for anyone interested in this fascinating, doomed ship.

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

EDITION	Hardcover
ISBN	9781399086004
PRICE	£20.00 (GBP)