{"product_id":"9780007321650_titanic-lives-migrants-and-millionaires-conmen-and-crew","title":"Titanic Lives: Migrants and Millionaires, Conmen and Crew","description":"\u003cp\u003eMarking the centenary of the Titanic disaster, ‘Titanic Lives’ is an utterly compelling exploration of the lives of the passengers and crew on board the most famous ship in history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe RMS Titanic was built as one of the world's largest and most luxurious liners. A marine Ritz, it was a 45,000-tonne hotel of thin steel plates, travelling at a speed of 21 knots across the North Atlantic.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn the night of 14 April 1912, midway through her maiden voyage, the seemingly unsinkable ship hit an iceberg, sustaining a 300-feet gash as six compartments were wrenched open to the sea. In little over two hours, the palatial Titanic nose-dived to the bottom of the ocean. Over 1,500 people perished in the freezing waters.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWho were the people who by a cruel twist of fate happened to be travelling on the ship? In this original and timely book, Richard Davenport-Hines views the great liner as a paradigm of Edwardian society. At the bottom of the ship was the steerage class, filled with emigrants hoping for a better life in the New World. Above them were hundreds of second-class passengers buoyed up by their prosperous respectability. On the upper decks were the hereditary rich and those of inconceivable wealth – Americans like John Jacob Astor IV, who was found with £2000 and $4000 in sodden notes in his pockets.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBringing together over 2,000 passengers and crew from every class and every continent, ‘Titanic Lives’ tells their stories, re-creating the complexities, disparities and tensions of life one hundred years ago.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richard Davenport-Hines","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47284831715477,"sku":"9780007321650","price":5.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0484\/3175\/9509\/files\/9780007321650.jpg?v=1776992049","url":"https:\/\/harpercollins.com.au\/products\/9780007321650_titanic-lives-migrants-and-millionaires-conmen-and-crew","provider":"HarperCollins AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}