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Brad Matsen's "Titanic's Last Secrets"

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No single non-military event in 20th century history has created a greater historical cult than the sinking of the great 850 feet long RMS Titanic on April 14 to 15, 1912. There is a library of books on the subject, three major motion pictures and numerous websites and blogs that give Titaniacs around the world the opportunity to make that event a lifetime undertaking. So do we need another book on the subject? Brad Matsen's "Titanics' Last Secrets" reads like a good history lesson with a mystery attached and it does the impossible: it gives us new and essential information on the events of that night in April 1912.

A tip from an explorer of the Titanic wreck activated an expedition by John Chatterton and Richie Kohler of the History Channel's "Deep Sea Detectives" fame. With a bit of luck and money, they were able to rent the Russian research ship Akademik Mstislav Keldysh. The big ship's Mir 1 and 2 exploration units enabled the expedition to look for telltale wreckage in the 4000 feet of North Atlantic water that houses the Titanic. After two days, some never seen plates from the bottom of the ship were recovered because of their unusual patterns of bending and tearing.

Matsen's narrative then seamlessly moves his narrative between the past and present as he gives a beautifully condensed history of the White Star Line and its obsession with large ships. He reminds us that there were three ships in the Titanic's class and the White Star Line had just been reorganized into a combine by J. P. Morgan as it struggled for dominance with rival, the Cunard line.

The Titanic cult boomed after 1985, when Robert Ballard discovered the wreck of the great ship and photographed it. Images of a sinking ship breaking in half as it went down excited new speculation on a spectacular demise of the ship breaking at a 45 degree angle. James Cameron recreated this speculation in his 1997 film and has denounced the findings of this book. Read it and you may just realize Matsen has it right. The problem is that what we now know about the last moments of the Titanic are not so cinematic, but they are even more amazing and tragic. Yes, the ship broke in two, but only at an 11 degree angle, and this caused early massive interior flooding. The full implications of this provide a solid explanation of the lack of makeshift lifeboats that could have been created in a slow sinking as this huge ship sunk in less than two and half hours after striking an iceberg.

For all these years, the Titanic's builder, Harland and Wolff, has remained silent on possible flaws in the Titanic's hull. Now you are privy to revelations from the longtime company archivist. His admissions are nothing less than a corporate whistle-blowing bombshell that will rewrite many a Titanic book.

For traditional background, Walter Lord's two masterpieces, "A Night to Remember" (1955) and "The Night Lives On" (1986) are superb narratives with many first-hand sources. Geoffrey Marcus' "The Madien Voyage" (1974) is a fine account by a British naval historian, but has few survivor interviews. Only Lord's second book has information on Ballard's find but was written before he completed his research and published his book in 1987. One good first hand account is available from the only surviving officer, Charles Lightoller, the Titanic's second officer. His book, "The Titanic and Other Ships" (1935) is a great original source. Now with Bard Matsen's terrific book, we have fascinating history lesson that reads like a good detective story.

With so many wonderful books on the great ship, you might also be looking for a great Titanic film. Try Roy Baker's "A Night to Remember" (1958). It has historical spectacle with lots of emotional byplay as it is told largely from the point of view of second officer Lightoller. Mystery writer Eric Ambler adapted Walter Lord's book.

Now we have a final Titanic mystery solved by Brad Matsen, who can create such wonderful images with his words that those final moments of April 15, 1912, may never be the same. Even a die-hard Titaniac needs to adds this book to the shelf.