Inside the Titanic
   Illustrated by Ken Marschall
   Text by Hugh Brewster
  1997 A Madison Press Book/Little, Brown & Co. Boston USA
   ISBN: 0316557161


This Giant Cutaway Book takes you on a grand tour of the greatest passenger liner of its time, the fabled Titanic. Brilliant, dynamic pictures & photographic reproductions illustrate the real-life stories of two young boys who survived the 1912 sinking.

From stem to stern this magnificent vessel is illustrated with bright clear pictures together with grainy black & white photos taken probably for publicity. Throughout the book memorabilia is scattered like flotsam; dining tickets, forks & posters.

I've been fortunate enough to make two ocean liner journeys from that little island across the sea from France. The first was to Portugal just as English winter turned into Mediterranean spring & the second across the wide North Atlantic to America in the height of summer.

On both voyages I was queasy in my cabins which I shared with up to five other young women until I learned to sleep up in the open on deck chairs; going down to the cabin only to wash & change clothes. I loved the life on board, finding myself in the prow more often than not, sniffing at the wind, watching the water, feeling the grand expanse of ocean. Even the showers & toilets had a distinct atmosphere about them.

It was also great fun to be served huge sumptuous meals, steaming hot bouillon, tea & biscuits & midnight snacks & never have to wash a dish. I loved the onboard entertainments: card playing, parlor games, team games, walking around the decks & up & down stairs & ladders. Nowadays my shipboard experiences come on the Washington State Ferries plying the Puget Sound. So it is not surprising that books about passenger liners leap off their shelves at me - they know a passionate fan when they see her.

Hugh Brewster's narrative, while playing second fiddle to Ken Marschall's detailed illustrations, tells of the adventures of Frank Goldsmith & Billy Carter on the high seas, how they survived the sinking of this mighty ship & the aftermath.

In the end we meet Dr. Robert Ballard & his submarine Alvin which took him down the Titanic's grave & brought back those amazing pictures.

I particularly liked the step-by-step guide of Titanic's brush with an iceberg that fateful night even as I had to remember that so many of the nameless, devoted crew members went to their graves along with their Captain.

This is a very clean & tidy depiction of a vast vessel & the huge tragedy it met. I searched & searched for the crew's quarters - it seems that only the passengers were of interest, thus perpetuating those old class prejudices. Of the 1595 souls that perished on that April night so long ago, how many were crew members - from the lowly boiler room tenders to the medical staff to the captain?

The pictures in this book are grand with a four page spread-out section that would fill a desk top & can be studied for hours, however, this is a glossy, bland retelling of a marvelous drama. Definitely vetted for the tender sensitivities of protected children.

Still, when Ken Marschall gives us such views of the Titanic as seen on pages 2 & 3, you can almost smell the ocean, feel the wind, the throbbing of her massive turbines & sense the great ship's presence.

Also by Ken Marschall: The Discovery of the Titanic; Exploring the Titanic: An Illustrated History & On Board the Titanic

Also by Hugh Brewster: Anastasia's Album; Exploring the Titanic; On Board the Titanic.
(06/04/00)

Rebecca