The Discovery of the Titanic

On the night of April 12, 1914 the RMS Titanic sank and became one of the world’s most famous shipwrecks. Although a few tried, it was another 73 years before Robert Ballard, Jean-Louis Michel and the combined French/American team found her again.

This is the story of Ballard’s initial interest in the Titanic and of the two gruelling expeditions that finally led to her rediscovery. The first part of the challenge was to locate her, the next was to dive down to the wreck. A year after Ballard and his team found the Titanic they were back with newly developed technology to explore the ship and debris field.

Through The Discovery Of The Titanic we get a real sense of deep sea exploration in the 80’s. Simply, but passionately written it is as if we are right there with Ballard and his team through all the glitches, failures, and for the ultimate success. Beautiful, ghostly photos compliment Ballard’s account.

The events that lead to the sinking are briefly outlined, but given the fantastic YA book I once owned also by Ballard, I was expecting much more about life on the ship, her construction and scale and more personal stories of some of her passengers. There are snippets of these things but I felt they were too brief. To be fair to Ballard though, this book was never written to be a full account of the Titanic, it is the story of her rediscovery.

The only other gripe I have is the details given of academic politics. Whilst certainly they were a part of the discovery story and gave some extra insight into the kinds of things Ballard’s team had to overcome to succeed, I felt they were peripheral, unnecessary and on occasion verging toward petty.

But I’m nit-picking with those last two points and this is really a wonderfully informative, very readable book. Throughout the text Ballard’s respect for the Titanic, and the memory of those who were lost, is obvious. This is a first hand account of the Titanic’s rediscovery from the man who masterminded and led the team that found her, and as such The Discovery Of The Titanic is a must read for anyone with an interest in the Titanic. ( )