TV and Movies

[LoriLori]

@sunala, I don't read historical fiction, I stick to nonfiction.  I've probably read ten books on Titanic including testimony but no bios, they are said to be unreliable.  The behavior of the Captain of the Californian was despicable.  However their telegraph operators did warn Titanic twice. 

The first warning got through.  The second one, that the Californian was surrounded by ice did not -- because the wireless operator prioritized messages sent by first-class passengers.  Californian had only one wireless operator.  The Titanic's guy told him to shut up because he was busy (sending rich people's messages), then finished and went to sleep.  If he had received the second message things could have been very different.

Although the Californian was five miles away no one knows if it might have changed the fatalities -- the water was so cold, the lifeboats were completely mishandled (on one side of the boat men were allowed in, on the other side no men were allowed; that's where Jacob Astor begged to be allowed to go with his pregnant wife, and if only they had been on the ohter side it would not have been a problem) -- and they were not full when they were sent down. 

The Californian had few lifeboats and it's a moot question whether Titanic's boats could have rowed toward the Californian, passengers climb aboard, row back to the Titanic and fill up again.  Examinations of the situation after Titanic was found mostly believe it wouldn't have made a difference as far as survivors.

But it's a fact the survivors would have been picked up a lot faster and the bottom line, the behavior of Captain Lord was despicable.

[LoriLori]

@sunala  I recommend

"A Night to Remember" by Walter Lord (no relation to the captain), based on actual testimony;

"Titanic On Trial:  The Night the Titanic Sank, Told Through the Testimonies of Her Passengers and Crew" by Nic Compton; in depth, quotes investigations and tells the story of a few first-class passengers who behaved despicably, which I find fascinating;

"Titanic:  Voices from the Disaster" by Deborah Hopkinson,  quotes testimony, shorter and lighter than the above;

Andrew Wilson's "Shadow of the Titanic:  The Extraordinary Stories of Those Who Survived" which IIRC begins with them boarding the Carpathia -- I loved that book!

And this web site, which is incredibly comprehensive and you can find anything you want to know, from who is buried in Halifax to the life stories of passengers to every possible fact about the ship and its sinking, and everything known about those who lived and those who died:

https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/

Sorry!  This is something I am very, very interested in and I've gone on even longer than I usually do, Sunny!  (And you know I can go on!)

[MoJoV]

Blair Witch....so stupid.  I kept wondering when it was going to get scary. It never did,just dumb.