Cig To The Titanic (The Complete Idiot's Guide)

With the blockbuster successes of James Cameron's Titanic, its best-selling companion book, and the Broadway musical of the same name, it's clear people have an insatiable appetite for all things Titanic. This fascinating work tells newcomers all about the ship-from its inception, to its building, to the media hype surrounding its fatal maiden voyage, to the passengers aboard, to an up-to-date explanation of how it is believed the iceberg crash caused the ship to sink, to the chaos that ensued, to survivors' stories, and more. This thorough retrospective also contains information on recent underwater recoveries, quotes from survivors, ample illustrative material, and even insights into the Titanic's impact on contemporary pop culture.

And that's just a drop in the bucket of the lore in this book. Did you know that the wreck launched the career of a New York high school dropout and 21-year-old nobody who beat all the newspapers to the story via the newfangled technology of wireless radio? The kid, David Sarnoff, became president of RCA and the patriarch of television at NBC. For a book smaller than a steamer trunk, the Complete Idiot's Guide packs an impressive load. (For a booklike object literally shaped like a steamer trunk, try The Titanic Collection: Mementos of the Maiden Voyage.) --Tim Appelo