Titanic

Within a week of leaving Southampton for New York on 14 April 1912, the world's largest luxury liner struck an iceberg off the coast of Labrador. The impact buckled its hull, and the 50,000-ton vessel, which had been hailed as 'unsinkable', began sinking into the freezing North Atlantic. Those aboard rushed to get the lifeboats into the water before the sea pulled them under.

Of the 2,224 passengers and crew on board, more than 1,500 died, making it one of the deadliest sinkings of a single ship up to that time. The disaster has gripped the public imagination ever since, partly because of its sheer scale and partly because the ship served as a miniature version of Edwardian society, with wealthy travellers sharing its decks with poor emigrants hoping to build new lives in North America.

The question of why there were only enough lifeboats for half of those aboard provoked controversy and led to reforms in maritime safety. In the years that followed, many survivors described their experiences to reporters, and this book honours those firsthand accounts.

The final chapter turns to the wreck as it lies today. Explorers, scientists and filmmakers have visited it underwater, and many objects have been recovered while the old liner continues to break apart on the seabed.

Built around 180 genuine photographs, this concise book presents a visual history of the sinking and its aftermath.