Though I enjoy stories about the Titanic, I doubt I would have bought this book if not for the subtitle. I really enjoyed the book Shadow Divers so a book that promised “The Further Adventures of Shadow Divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler” caught my attention. The fact that it was about the Titanic was secondary.
Titanic’s Last Secrets differed from Shadow Divers in that it wasn’t so much about Chatterton and Kohler. The majority of the book tells the story of the Titanic’s construction and subsequent sinking. Most of this is not new material. However, as the book promises, new revelations are made from both an examination of the wreck and a surprise expert.
The wreckage threw a lot of doubt on how the Titanic sunk. The bow did not rise up as it does in paintings and movies. The ship broke in half and sunk quickly. The expert turned out to be a former historian with the company that built the Titanic. By combining these two resources, Chatterton and Kohler not only figured out how the Titanic sunk but why.
The historical portion of the book does a good job of explaining the process for building the ship and the nature of the shipbuilding industry at the beginning of the 20^th Century.
I found the book easy and interesting to read, but most importantly for a non-fiction book (at least for me) is that I learned something new.