Titanic: The Legend of the Unsinkable Ship - Tapa dura

It was hailed as "unsinkable", the biggest ship in the world, the ultimate in seafaring luxury. Yet within five days of setting off from Southampton on its maiden voyage, Titanic had sunk to the bottom of the sea with the loss of over 1,500 lives. A century on, the fate of the Titanic remains the worst disaster in seafaring history. Dozens of books have charted the all-too-short life of Titanic but this is the first to contain 30 fascinating facsimile items of Titanic memorabilia. These give the reader a unique and compelling insight into life on board Titanic as she ventured out into the icy seas of the North Atlantic in April 1912 and include: The clearance form authorizing Titanic to set sail; the ticket belonging Father Frank Browne; telegrams sent to and from Titanic on the night of the collision; and a condolence telegram sent to US President William H Taft.

Beau Riffenburgh is an author and historian. A native of California, he earned his doctorate degree at the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge and for 14 years he served as editor of Polar Record, the world's oldest journal of polar research. He has also lectured in history at the University of Cambridge and written several books, including The Royal Geographical Society Exploration Experience, published by Andre Deutsch. He lives in Wales.