Titanic: The Last Night of a Small Town

by John Welshman

In his famous book A Night to Remember , Walter Lord described the sinking of the Titanic as "the last night of a small town." Now, a hundred years after her sinking, historian John Welshman reconstructs the fascinating individual experiences of twelve of the inhabitants of this tragically
short-lived floating village.

In Titanic , Welshman offers a minute-by-minute account of the doomed liner's last hours, based on a representative cross-section of those who sailed in men and women, old and young, passengers and crew, wealthy and poor. He introduces the reader to a fascinating cast of twelve
eye-witnesses, including Arthur H. Rostron, Captain of the Carpathia , the first ship to reach the scene; Charles Lightoller, the Titanic 's Second Officer; Archibald Gracie, a wealthy American cotton plantation owner; Elin Hakkarainen, a young migrant from Finland, travelling Third Class; and Edith
Brown, a teenager from South Africa. The book also documents the experiences of an Assistant Wireless Operator, a Stewardess, an amateur military historian, a governess, a teacher, and a domestic servant. The survivor accounts allow Welshman to construct a graphic and compelling picture of events on
a day-to-day and hour-by-hour basis, providing vivid glimpses of the tragedy as seen from their respective vantage points. In addition, Welshman tells the story of where these twelve people were from and what happened to those who survived in the years afterwards. Finally, the author, a respected
social historian, offers many insights into nineteenth-century social class, migration, work, and the broader history of Northern Ireland.

Drawing on published autobiographical accounts, diaries, private papers, archival materials, and a wide array of other sources, The Last Night of a Small Town offers a unique account of one of the most memorable disasters in modern history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

364 pages, Hardcover

First published January 13, 2012

Reviews

[Lisa Konet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I may be close to reading every book on the Titanic ever written; this was more about where the Titanic's journey began and where it ended. Some good new information that I did not know, but mostly a different way of saying the information I already know about. This did have some good first hand accounts of some the survivors and their experiences and that was just gut wrenching to read. Good writing on a popular subject.

[Kaila · Rating 3 out of 5]

The character's stories are very interesting. The writing, however, leaves much to be desired. The individual stories are difficult to follow and many random (often unecessary) facts are thrown in. If this book were not based on true events, I don't think I would have read it.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Walter Lord’s book ‘A Night To Remember’ (1955) is still the benchmark against which all subsequent books about the disaster have to be measured.”

So starts John Welshman’s “conclusion” chapter, a book that he has written, largely and openly using the accounts of others. As a Titanic enthusiast, I tend to read whatever I can get my hands on - fiction and non fiction. However, this has a lot of accounts of which I already own and have read (or plan to.)

It’s also ridiculously repetitive. The author has picked twelve people to “feature” - ranging from survivors in third class, to crew. Some of these are well known to anyone who is interested in the Titanic and have accounts/biographies that are readily available - Lawrence Beesley, Archibald Gracie, Eva Hart. Some aren’t as well known and have obviously been picked from the (now) out of print accounts that could be found - Hannah Touma, Elizabeth Shutes, Elin Hakkarainen. The author alternates between the different survivor accounts, from prior to boarding the Titanic, to being on the Titanic, to the sinking and the aftermath. You will be rolling your eyes so much that you will see the back of your head, as you read practically the same description of the sinking and the lifeboats, twelve times over.

Will you learn anything new from this? If this is one of your first Titanic books, probably. If you have more than 100 Titanic books, highly unlikely. (Although I did learn that Lawrence Beesley’s son, married Dodie Smith and David Warner was also in a little known TV film called SOS Titanic - he was Cal’s man servant in the James Cameron Titanic movie.)

I will be keeping this as part of my collection, despite my misgivings about the repetition and references to content from other books, as I got it for quite cheap at the time of purchasing and it is a signed copy.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some reviewers who have read some of the source material for this book complained that it just rehashed things they already knew. I found it very interesting in that it was a great synopsis of the tragic event. It follows the stories of a number of survivors (obviously!) and, once I got used to the author's device of telling the story in parallel time and could differentiate among the subjects, I found it offered fresh perspectives of events. I've been fascinated by the story of the Titanic since I found Walter Lord's "A Night to Remember" in my high school library back in the mid-1960's. My only complaint was that I'd loved for it to contain more photos. I was able to go online and seek out some that would have been good to include. (I'm not going to check the "Hide entire review because of spoilers" button...just going to tell you outright that the ship sank!)

[Harriet Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting novel containing accounts of the passengers aboard the Titanic, and following the events of that terrible night that she struck the iceberg.

I did find some sections to be a little dry, but I think the final half of the book was extremely heartbreaking and really made me feel like I was hearing the voices of the people speaking about their experience that night. Good reading for anyone interested in the tragedy of Titanic’s maiden voyage.

[Ceri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up in the library on a whim. It was a fascinating look at some of the survivors of the Titanic sinking, using their recollections and previous writings collated together to make this new book.

The author wrote about the same moments from different perspectives so it was a bit repetitive at times.

Really enjoyed it overall and would read more from the author.

[Fatima Al furaish · Rating 3 out of 5]

في البدايه كرهت الكتاب وندمت اني شريته لان اسلوب الكاتب كان غير مشوق نهائيا ودخل في تفاصيل غير مهمه وممله بس من وصلت لاحداث الغرق رجع يجذبني من جديد ☹️تفاصيل كثير مؤلمه واحس لازم تُنقل بفلم

[Dennis Kocik · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read. Recommended

[Tomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A different take on Titanic stories, the book specifically follows a small number of survivors. Probably written on a young adult level.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will readily admit that the intriguing title is what drew me to this book. "The Last Night of a Small Town..." it seemed so perfectly phrased. The book focused on roughly 10-12 "characters" who were aboard the ship. (I use the word characters with all due respect; I realize and understand that they were real, true people.) Most of the focus was, surprisingly, settled upon members of the Second Class passenger list and the crew - but NOT the crew who were firemen, stokers, or officers - crew who were chambermaids and musicians. Very few books about the Titanic (that I have read) have focused on this segment of the ship's population. Certain stories of the sinking hold true in this retelling - Andrews throwing deck chairs overboard, the band playing as the deck tilted sharply into the sea but others remain in question. The final song, the location of the Captain in the final moments and the condition of the ship as it went down all vary from person to person. My one quibble was the layout of the chapters. Welshman would tell the tale from one person's perspective and then stop and start over, this time from someone else's view. I would have preferred integration of the stories. Highly recommended for Titanic history buffs or fans of 20th century history.

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The most interesting part of Titanic: The Last Night of a Small Town occurs near the end of the book, when Welshman starts to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of Walter Lord's A Night to Remember. But he doesn't really tackle the subject in depth, and that may be the single greatest weakness of the whole book. Nothing is treated in such a way that the reader is given the kind of insights Welshman promises in the Introduction. Yes, he does give an interesting collection of people as subjects. But he is forced to draw heavily upon their own recollections, or those of their children/grandchildren. Welshman explains the problems inherent in survivor narratives, but never dissects how he encountered and dealt with them in those he used.

There are time problems in the narrative as Welshman jumps from one subject to another. For example, the struggle to free the last collapsible takes place in three different chapters.

A good read for people who have to read everything about Titanic And yep, I'm one of them.

[Michael Poirier · Rating 2 out of 5]

As the 100th anniversary approaches, there have been a number of books with new information previously unseen. Unfortunately, Last Night in a Small Town is put together with the help of other books and easily accessible online resources. Since much of what is found in this book is taken from other books, what was the point of this book? There are 2200 plus passengers and crew to chose from so I would think that an author would avoid the trap of telling stories that have been told elsewhere. The more successful Titanic books are from authors who talk to families, dig through newspaper/museum archives, etc. If you are very new to the Titanic story, this work is fine. However, it would be recommended that you should buy the original books the author used to put this piece together.

[Kara · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author's over use of ascribing thoughts, emotions, actions, motivations, and feelings to the people on board without any proof to back up his narrative left me feeling as though I was reading a work of fiction rather than a real history book. It would have been a good history book in the mid-twentieth century (see 'Devil in Massachusetts) but today it just doesn't pas muster for good historical research. Also, the 'small town' metaphor was incredibly over used and tortured and I just didn't buy it - people in a small town know each other - and there were a lot of people on this boat who didn't.

[Calis Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wish this had been the James Cameron film. The real people the actual stories. Despite using some of the dialogue from the 90s A&E documentary this was an enjoyable read; knocked it out in two days. I always enjoyed listening to the interviews of survivor Eva Hart and her sections of the book were my favorites. A couple of times there were bits that felt like historical fiction but a lot of historical non fiction novels are guilty of that. All in all 3 and a half out of 5.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book following about a dozen Titanic passengers/crew before, during and after the disaster. Written very well and makes you feel engaged with the various characters it follows. Only gripe is that the story continuously cycles back in time to pick up the story with various characters, so there is some repetition on some details of the disaster.

[Ellen Stafford · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting in places but I found it very repetitive in places. Maybe it would have been better to tell each eye-witnesses stories separately instead of all together. I personally found it hard to remember who was who.

[Lenore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh...you've read one Titanic book and you've read them all...

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Concentrates mainly on 2nd and 3rd Class which is intriguing. However, gets bogged down a bit in details about family lineage and spelling errors on manifests.