Titanic: A Primary Source History (In Their Own Words)

Discusses the building and boarding of the luxury steamship Titanic, her maiden journey to New York and her sinking on that journey, how the sinking was portrayed in the media, and the missions to find and preserve the ship.

Grade 5-8 Each title begins with a short summary paragraph that, despite the name of the series, is followed mostly by standard text. Quotes come from government documents, newspaper articles, letters, poems, telegrams, songs, contemporary interviews, and inscriptions, as well as excerpts from films, speeches, letters, and books. They are set off in sidebars with symbols indicating the type of source, the key for which trails along the bottom of every page. Further opportunities for integrating primary sources are neglected; for example, both Major Figures sections have 12 one-paragraph biographies, but none include quotes from the featured person. Photographs, drawings, maps, and reproductions of original documents make up a large portion of the books. Titanic displays many interesting artifacts from the ship, but elements from James Cameron's 1997 film are overused, such as the CD soundtrack cover. While the facts are generally correct, no bibliography or source notes are included. Overall, nothing exists within these pages to make them necessary purchases. Andrew Medlar, Chicago Public Library, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.