One Hundred and Sixty Minutes: The Race to Save the RMS Titanic

by William Hazelgrove

One hundred and sixty minutes. That is all the time rescuers would have before the largest ship in the world slipped beneath the icy Atlantic. There was amazing heroism and astounding incompetence against the backdrop of the most advanced ship in history sinking by inches with luminaries from all over the world. It is a story of a network of wireless operators on land and sea who desperately sent messages back and forth across the dark frozen North Atlantic to mount a rescue mission. More than twenty-eight ships would be involved in the rescue of Titanic survivors along with four different countries. At the heart of the rescue are two young Marconi operators, Jack Phillips 25 and Harold Bride 22, tapping furiously and sending electromagnetic waves into the black night as the room they sat in slanted toward the icy depths and not stopping until the bone numbing water was around their ankles. Then they plunged into the water after coordinating the largest rescue operation the maritime world had ever seen and thereby saving 710 people by their efforts. The race to save the largest ship in the world from certain death would reveal both heroes and villains. It would begin at 11:40 PM on April 14, when the iceberg was struck and would end at 2:20 AM April 15, when her lights blinked out and left 1500 people thrashing in 25-degree water. Although the race to save Titanic survivors would stretch on beyond this, most people in the water would die, but the amazing thing is that of the 2229 people, 710 did not and this was the success of the Titanic rescue effort. We see the Titanic as a great tragedy but a third of the people were rescued and the only reason every man, woman, and child did not succumb to the cold depths is due to Jack Phillips and Harold McBride in an insulated telegraph room known as the Silent Room. These two men tapping out CQD and SOS distress codes while the ship took on water at the rate of 400 tons per minute from a three-hundred-foot gash would inaugurate the most extensive rescue operation in maritime history using the cutting-edge technology of the time, wireless.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Book Club, Historical, European History

320 pages, Hardcover

Published September 1, 2021

About the author

Early Blurb for Evil on the Roof of the World

“Propelled by idealism and determination, Jay and Lauren set out to cycle around the world. Believing in the essential goodness of humanity, the couple find kindness and hospitality while slogging through desert sand in Namibia, fleeing an enraged elephant in Botswana, and enduring freezing rain in Spain. William Elliott Hazelgrove's gripping account, reminiscent of Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, chronicles Jay and Lauren's epic journey toward an encounter with terrorists who decide that slaughtering these youthful seekers will serve ISIS's cause.” ―Doug Kari, author of The Berman Murders








WALL STREET JOURNAL REVIEW OF DEAD AIR https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/book...

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY REVIEW OF DEAD AIR THE NIGHT ORSON WELLES TERRIFIED AMERICA 8/8/24
RELEASE OCT 30 2024
In this fine-grained account, historian Hazelgrove (Writing Gatsby) chronicles the mass hysteria that accompanied Orson Welles’s infamous 1938 radio adaptation of H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds. Hazelgrove presents Welles as an actor of immense ambition and preternatural talent, noting that by age 22, he had put on headline-grabbing plays (the government shut down his 1937 production of The Cradle Will Rock, fearing its pro-labor themes would be incendiary) and traveled around New York City in a faux ambulance to move more quickly between his numerous radio and theatrical commitments. The author recounts the rushed scriptwriting process for War of the Worlds and offers a play-by-play of the broadcast, but he lavishes the most attention on the havoc Welles wreaked. Contemporaneous news accounts reported college students fighting to telephone their parents, diners rushing out of restaurants without paying their bills, families fleeing to nearby mountains to escape the aliens’ poisonous gas, and even one woman’s attempted suicide. Hazelgrove largely brushes aside contemporary scholarship questioning whether the hysteria’s scope matched the sensational news reports, but he persuasively shows how the incident reignited elitist fears that “Americans were essentially gullible morons” and earned Welles the national recognition he’d yearned for. It’s a rollicking portrait of a director on the cusp of greatness. (Nov.)






WGN CHICAGO INTERVIEW ON WRITING GATSBY https://wgnradio.com/after-hours-with...

WRITING GATSBY THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE WRITING OF THE GREATEST AMERICAN NOVEL
TRAILER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIewK...



ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT ON 160 MINUTES THE RACE TO SAVE THE RMS TITANIC https://abcnews.go.com/WNN/video/revi...


WGN CHICAGO TV INTERVIEW ON ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY MINUTES THE RACE TO SAVE THE RMS TITANIC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daRWG...

MORRISTOWN THE DARKEST WINTER AND THE PLOT TO KIDNAP GEORGE WASHINGTON IS A HISTORY BOOK CLUB BESTSELLER AND A MILITARY BOOK CLUB SELECTION

DAILY EXPRESS UK COVERS ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY MINUTES WITH AMAZING FEATURE https://www.pressreader.com/uk/daily-...

Amazing Five Star Review of One Hundred and Sixty Minutes The Race to Save the RMS Titanic
out Sept 1

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LISTEN TO WGN INTERVIEW
https://wgnradio.com/after-hours-with...

PUBLICATION RELEASE DAY FOR THE NOBLE TRAIN
Listen to 101.7 FM interview of the incredible story of a twenty five year old Boston Booksellers expedition to bring 60 tons of cannons to George Washington in 1775. https://soundcloud.com/radiofreehills...

Watch the BOOK TRAILER FOR Henry Knox's Noble Train https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6Ui7...

William Hazelgrove is the National Bestselling author of ten novels an

Reviews

[Cover Lover Book Review · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can say, without a doubt, One Hundred and Sixty Minutes: The Race to Save the RMS Titanic is the most interesting and thorough book I’ve read covering the tragedies and triumphs of the Titanic. This book is so full of historical facts I’ve never read anywhere else.

When I initially started reading about the ‘astounding incompetence’ I was stunned. This is quite a bold claim. But as I continued, I sadly agreed. So many more people could have been saved. I’m appalled at learning the numerous opportunities where people could’ve made a difference. (Captain Lord’s story made me cringe.)

This is possibly the only non-fiction book I’ve read on the sinking of the Titanic that doesn’t cover the event in a romanticized way. Focusing primarily on how human error resulted in this tragedy, and on the heroism of Jack Phillips and Harold Bride is what makes this book special. My interest never wavered, and it felt as if I read a novel instead of the usual heavy and exhaustive history book.

One of the most prolific things this book carries is its coverage of the heroism of Jack Phillips and Harold Bride. These two Marconi operators were wireless officers on board the Titanic and I was fascinated with their roles and of how very young they were. Phillips was 25 years old, and Bride was only 22. They were still kids, in my mind, yet they showed extreme efforts, bravery, and endurance. I was also captivated to learn that if it weren’t for Bride repairing the broken wireless only hours before hitting the iceberg, he and Phillips wouldn’t have been able to send for help!

Ultimately, I was moved to tears as I read Harold Bride’s statement to a New York Times reporter only a few minutes before the Carpathia brought him ashore in Chapter 43. This final chapter is perhaps the most powerful of them all. It is here that Bride candidly conveys the events of the night. He tells of Phillips’ valiant and tireless efforts, how the band continued playing as the ship sank, his own harrowing last moments aboard the Titanic, of being pulled onto a capsized collapsible boat, and how he recited the Lord’s Prayer with other strangers holding on for their lives.

You can't read this book without being forever changed.

On the Night of August 14 1912 The RMS Titanic Struck an iceberg with
only 160 minutes before she sank beneath the waves. We have been told
from Titanic mythology her fate was sealed and no one could have saved
the 1521 people. The real story is that every one who froze in the
North Atlantic could have been saved if it were not for human failing

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. My review was not influenced.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This a fresh approach to the story we all know, with the focus being on the Marconi wireless operators aboard the Titanic and their fellow operators that received the tragic SOS.

Hazelgrove, starting with chapter 3 (subtitled 160 minutes), gives a minute by minute account of what was happening aboard the Titanic and the many ships that heard their call for help. The author debunks what he calls the "Titanic Mythology" of Edwardian chivalry and shows us an ugly picture of human nature and self preservation.

The story is focused, as I said, on the wireless operators. The Marconi wireless was relatively new and the distress signals from the Titanic were the first true test of it's power.

I wanted to give this book 4 stars, but I just can't do it. I enjoyed the book, however, I was irritated by the many typos. Although not entirely the fault of the author, editing matters in my ratings and I have to downgrade to 3 stars because of the poor job here

[Justin (Bubbas_Bookshelves) · Rating 3 out of 5]

You would think for a book that is a countdown to one of the worst maritime disasters in history it would’ve had better pacing but alas this one was not it for me. I chose this for my book club thinking it would be fun to read about something we all enjoy learning about but it dragged on and on about the wireless transmitters mostly. Yes they were important and were basically the only heroes in this tragedy but do we need 50 pages of it?! I think not. There were also about 10 typos that were blatantly obvious. This book left me wanting to throw it in 23 degree water and watch it sink.

[Beth Toner · Rating 1 out of 5]

I almost never leave reviews, and when I do I almost never leave a bad one because I know firsthand how hard writing is. But this book, argh. First of all the writing was mediocre at best and in dire need of a good edit. And the author used so many terrrrrrrrible similes. Repetitive and stilted. And, as someone who became a Titanic buff in third grade (1975) and has voraciously consumed almost everything written about the ship, I can say that other than the information about Marconi and the role wireless played, there was no new information in this book. And the tone the author adopts in condemning the captains of the Californian and the Mount Temple is insufferably self-righteous. The evidence there is far from conclusive but the author makes it out to be so. I finished this book because I paid for it; otherwise I wouldn’t have wasted my time.

[Rick Pucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book.
At first, I was a bit dismayed finding so many typos in the first several chapters, but like the Titanic, they completely vanished.
I had already gone done the rabbit hole reading about the Titanic so was hesitant to read this book. What new info can there be 110 years later? But Mr. Hazelgrove gives us a totally fresh approach, exploring the other boats racing to Titanic's rescue. Plus identifying the unsung heroes such as Jack Phillips and Harold Bride, the Marconi operators without whom there would not have been a single survivor. Or Captain Rostron, of The Carpathia, risking life and limb to rescue the 705 survivors from the icy Atlantic Ocean.

705, out of 2,235 passengers. Such a tragedy. Thus one cannot have heroes without villains, and we certainly have that exposed in this book for the first time in Captain Stanley Lord of The Californian. I'll say no more on that lest I create a spoiler.

The vexing, Catch 22, ultimate dilemma question remains. If you were in one of those lifeboats watching 1500+ people drowning. Would you row over to them, knowing your boat would get swamped by the truly desperate? Or would you remain behind along with your basic human instinct to survive?

[The Biased Bibliophile · Rating 5 out of 5]

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Normally, I wait a few days after finishing a book before I review it, but I literally just finished reading One Hundred and Sixty Minutes: The Race to Save the RMS Titanic by William Hazelgrove. I absolutely loved this book! If you think you know the history of the Titanic, think again and read this book. Hazelgrove morphs a seemingly well known story into a riveting tale in this stunning book!

Clearly, the book is about the Titanic, but it’s so much more than your run-of-the-mill Titanic story. The author adds a new depth to the story by dispelling the idea that it was tragically unpreventable, and that people accepted their fates with honor and grace. He paints a vivid picture of the true heroes of the story: the two wireless officers on board, Jack Phillips & Harold Bride, along with the Captain of the Carpathia, Arthur Rostrun.

Frequently, I have mixed feelings about many nonfiction books because the actual story is interesting, but the stories are not always conveyed in a captivating way. However, I was enthralled with this book throughout its entirety. Honestly, there are not many nonfiction books that I would consider “page-turners” or that I literally couldn’t put down, but I finished this book in under 48 hours.

Truthfully, when I requested this book on NetGalley, I was interested because the lore around the Titanic is fascinating to me, but I had never read a book about it before. I kind of thought, “If you’ve read one book about the Titanic, you’ve read them all,” but it is abundantly clear that Hazelgrove’s book is original and unique.

He refrains from depicting the story through rose colored lenses. He points to multiple mistakes that could have been avoided, which could have saved all the lives that were lost, or circumnavigated the disaster entirely. While he admits that this event shows a failure of human compassion, the fact that he highlights the unsung heroes of the tragedy, left me with a sense of hope and inspiration.

Whether you’re particularly interested in the Titanic or not, this is a book everyone should read! It’s quite possibly one of the best nonfiction books I’ve ever read!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Sarah Pesnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good account of what happened on the night Titanic sank. Job very well done by the author. Would definitely recommend this book.

[Susan Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Princess Fuzzypants here: Books on the Titanic are always fascinating. The human drama makes for compelling reading and this book is no exception. While it does not necessarily break new ground, it does take a slightly different focus than many of the others. It attacks the myths that were written at the time to salve the prevailing sentiments of those in power- WASP men. Many of the stories lauded the courage and resolve that was expected at that time. And it finds it lacking in many regards.

It is no surprised that the percentage of first and second class passengers who survived was far greater than the third class. We know the English class system was alive and well. Many stories have been told about the snobbish disregard many of those who survived had for the poor souls who were struggling to stay alive. Human nature and the desire for self preservation, sadly, was rife at a time when sacrifice and courage were needed. Those stories, often told, are moving.

Where the book is set apart is in looking at the event, almost minute by minute from several points of view. It, of course, focuses on those aboard the doomed ship. It also looks at the two men who frantically tried to catch the attention of other ships at sea to come to the Titanic’s rescue. In spite of two ships being close enough to have been able to prevent much of the loss of life, neither of them budged. It goes into the two captains and their crews and looks at the what and why of their fateful decisions.

And then it looks at the captain of the Carpathian, who set off, achieving speeds never before accomplished by the ship before, to get to the survivors. Too late, alas, for many, she took on 705 people. The rest perished in the icy Atlantic. It becomes a tale of courage, pluck and determination on the one side and cowardice and disdain on the other. The only good upshot was the one who could have helped most and failed to do so never lived it down.

While I know the story and the outcome, I still found myself turning the page to find out what happened next. It was that perfect combination of dry facts and the human element. Five purrs and two paws up.

[Sydney Useldinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a very interesting read for the fact it recounts personal messages and experiences from the disaster of the RMS Titanic. I especially enjoyed the recount of events through the operation of the Marconi Wireless operators (in which I had never known previously were so important to the rescue of the ship).

However, there were a few things that bothered me as the reader and why I gave it only 3 stars. First and foremost, the numerous punctuation, miss-spelling, and sentences with missing words/conjunctions. I could look over a few of them, but mostly from the middle to end of the book I began to get frustrated with the amount of writing mistakes. I understand this book was published in 2021 (during the pandemic) and resources for editing and such may not have been as easily accessible. It’s just a little frustrating when I’m playing “guess the missing word in this sentence to make it make sense” multiple times throughout certain chapters.

My second critique is the organization of first-hand accounts spread throughout the book. It’s fascinating to read such accounts from passengers aboard the ship (such as Beesley’s). However, I feel as if a lot of excerpts were not chronological and were jumping in between order of events (which could make it pretty confusing to read).

Overall, it was a good/average road trip read.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Titanic will never stop being of interest to me so when I saw this was a newer book I had to purchase it. The book is focused on the Marconi operators aboard Titanic and their tireless efforts to obtain help for the ship. This is a fantastic angle that I’ve never seen explored before. Phillips and Bride are certainly the unsung heroes of this rescue effort. I must point out that I have never seen Titanic as a rescue effort until I read this book.

There were two major issues that stopped me from giving this book four stars…

Repetitive writing - the author uses the same wording over and over again to describe the same situation. It’s get exhausting pretty quickly. I’m not sure if it’s an attempt at drama or to draw out the book longer than it needs to go. Either way, it’s annoyingly redundant.

Editing - absolutely horrific editing job. There are so many errors with wording and spelling that I lost count. At one point the author refers to the date of the sinking as August 14, 1912. Perfect.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Sister · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have deliberately refused to watch the blockbuster movie Titanic because we all know how it ends, after all: the immense ship hits an iceberg and sinks. William Hazelgrove puts the telegraph operators front & center, maintaining that the Carpathia would never have known to rescue the 705 people it plucked from the water if Bride & Phillips had not gone above and beyond the call of duty. I like the way he breaks the chapters into time, counting down 160 minutes once the iceberg hits. I just wish he had let the survivors, onlookers & others tell the story. His thesis is that the whole idea of upper class white men being special in how they behaved was a myth. I got it, but he didn’t have to repeat it endlessly. Oh and the typos got on my nerves as well. Hazel grove’s own air of superiority permeated the book and nearly ruined a story that could tell itself, the author just refused to get out of the way.

[Therese Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a riveting examination of the final 160 minutes prior to the Titanic’s frigid plunge into the deep Atlantic Ocean! What a complete change of course in my understanding of how this tragedy unfolded under dark skies.

Two very young men, in their tower atop the supposedly unsinkable vessel, heroically worked their Marconi machine, calling for help repeatedly across the water until the ocean crept up their legs and the Captain gave them leave to save themselves. Still Jack Phillips and Harold Bride sent out the electronic cry for help, CQD SOS, until the power failed.


Here is the story you probably do not know and it’s full of courage and cowardice and how these men saved the lives of 710 people. It’s hard to set this book aside, even if you know the end. It will be hard to forget. Highly recommend!

..

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably my fourth or fifth book on the Titanic and I think it's one of my favorites. Hazelgrove focused on the events that took place directly after Titanic struck the iceberg in the North Atlantic and really revolved around the rescue attempts after the strike. The rescue was made possible by the work of the Marconi wireless operators and much of the story is covering the actions they took that night. I knew that there were ships nearby and that the Californian was incredibly nearby, but no other publication really dove in and stressed HOW close. Hazelgrove strips back the glitz and glam of the Titanic and gets down to the human failures that caused this unspeakable tragedy. More Hazelgrove in my future for sure.

[Jesek Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm sure a lot of people who read this book are in the same situation of having read multiple books about the Titanic. So I'm always wary of new publishings. Will they actually have a new angle and new information to learn? I was impressed with the freshness of this approach. And also found the tone extremely refreshing in how it acknowledges the white, rich privilege of how the fable like story has grown. I appreciated the occasional sass of the author as they push aside the overly "gentlemanly" fictionalization of order and heroism.

[Carol Eshaghy · Rating 5 out of 5]

160 minutes, that’s how long it took the Titanic to sink after hitting an iceberg. Two young Marconi wireless operators stayed at their post as the water rose above their ankles trying to get help from other ships. It’s a story of heroism and cowardice. Of a tragedy that could have been averted. Of a rescue that didn’t come that could have saved everyone on board. I don’t read much non fiction but I couldn’t stop reading this book. It’s not romanticized like most of the Titanic stories. I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.

[Jim Edgar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Methodical timeline of the sinking of the RMS Titanic and the heroic efforts of two people using cutting edge technology that prevented even a worse disaster. Within that framework, he provides the all-too-human failings of two nearby captains who stood by as another rushed to save lives.
A bit repetitious here and there, with certain descriptions and observations duplicated within a page or two, but overall a nice bit of work on this tragedy.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished reading this very compelling and riveting book. It’s the most detailed book that I’ve read about the Titanic. Everyone knows the ending…this great ship sinks. But to have a glimpse into the heroics of the Marconi operators was was both gut wrenching and and awe inspiring. Definitely a five star for me!

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

At times I felt that I was rereading the same thing several times over. Perhaps the author was trying to stress a point or two but I thought it was overdone. Plus, who edited this? There were many mistakes and towards the end of the book, the date of Titanic's sinking was wrong! It was printed as August 14, 1912, not April. Good grief...

[Charles Fleming · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible angle to approach the tragedy of the Titanic. Never before would I have thought to attribute the rescue to the radio operators. Or to trace the events of the evening through the broadcasts across the frigid waters of the Atlantic.

Encourage history enthusiasts, emergency management professionals, amateur radio enthusiasts, and anyone else to give this book a go!

[Quin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting trait and well researched. Breaks down some of the mythology around the Titanic. I found the writing style to be jarring and repetitive, and even a little preachy, at times. But nevertheless a good read.

[Rebecca Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a read! I absolutely loved reading through this book.

The Titanic was one of the largest maritime disasters, and the loss of life was massive. With the few ships that were available, there was a race to see who would be able to save the stranded passengers.

Highly recommend this book!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. I learned some things I had not known about the Titanic. The author kept my interest to where I did not want to put this book down. I highly recommend this book.

[Joy Fricke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read!!

[Grace Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a Titanic nerd (like I am) there are a plethora of first hand accounts and tidbits I didn't know about the sinking and marconi system. Highly recommend- reads like a novel.

[Danyel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating read. I had no idea there was a ship so close that could have helped save survivors.

[Minu · Rating 3 out of 5]

William Hazelgrove narrates the actual countdown to either survive or freeze while acknowledging the impelling efforts of the Marconi operators tapping away distress signals across the Atlantic Ocean. Though parts of the book display savage views of the author, the facts and evidence provide the brutal truth about that night in 1912.