Titanic at Two AM

Review Excerpts
A Passage from the book
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Review Excerpts

From Library Journal, April 15, 1997: Quinn is a member of the Titanic Historical Society and writes and paints for its publication, the Titanic Commutator. Following Robert Ballard's discovery of the wreck in 1985 there have been numerous books retelling the epic story of the "unsinkable ship" on its maiden voyage with an insufficient number of lifeboats for passengers and crew. Quinn uses structural details gleaned from the accounts of Ballard and many survivors to reconstruct a vivid description of the final 20 minutes of the vessel's life. He has an excellent knowledge of the layout of the ship and has contributed several paintings showing the progress of the sinking. Of course, Quinn had to surmise various scenarios, including his dramatic descriptions of the rising water, the sounds of water flooding the various public rooms, and even which escape routes were likely taken by the third-class passengers. A beautiful addition to the literature of the Titanic and a good purchase for public libraries.

From Maine Sunday Telegram, March 30, 1997: Books, films and submersible camera views of the wreck have helped keep the saga alive. Paul J. Quinn - artist, author and member of the Titanic Historical Society - adds a handsome volume to the study. The subtitle, "Final Events Surrounding the Doomed Liner - An Illustrated Narrative with Survivor Accounts," fairly describes the contents. Quinn has selected excellent historical photographs of the vessel and its sister ship, the Olympic, as well as his own line drawings and color paintings of Titanic's last moments. Quinn gives the reader a solid background of the building, the collision and the 2 hours and 40 minutes it took to sink, but his real interest is what occurred in the last 20 minutes. This is a difficult trick to bring off while maintaining a level of dramatic tension. Quinn manages this stylishly. His research is sound and impressive, and he wisely employs sidebars to provide information on officer biographies, the U.S. Senate hearing, the times the last lifeboats departed and a commentary on Archibald Gracie, who produced a survivor's account. Quinn's 15 color illustrations of the ship's last moments, which show interior and exterior portions, appear accurate enough to delight the best model-makers. They convey an eerie tranquility that matches written accounts. Titanic at Two AM is a fitting memorial that will grace coffee table and researcher's bookshelf alike.

From The Penn Stater, April 1999: The wake from the Titanic is finally dying down. James Cameron's 200 million movie is out on videocassette. Leonardo DiCaprio is looking for a new job. And all the Titanic scholars are off of the Today Show and back in the libraries trying to uncover more controversies, dispel more myths, about the unsinkable ship that kissed an iceberg. One of those scholars is Paul Quinn. His latest book, Titanic at Two AM, covers his most recent research - the final twenty minutes of the ship's sinking. The story picks up at 2:00 AM, two hours after the ship hit the iceberg. By then, most of the lifeboats had been launched, and some 1600 people were left on board. From there, the book chronicles the ship's plunge minute by minute, each chapter detailing five minutes' worth of sinking. Each detail is put in the context of survivor testimony, historical document, and logistical information that describes how the Titanic was built. The author also adds historical photos and his own illustrations. Quinn writes the story of those fateful 20 minutes as one full of drama. It's not the kind of drama that Cameron's movie used to hook audiences - mushy stuff about rich girls falling in love with grubby boys. Quinn explores nearly century-old debates about whether a second ship called the Californian saw Titanic's emergency flares and ignored them, whether Titanic's steel was too brittle, and whether the ship's third-class passengers were given the opportunity to escape. Titanic at Two AM is dramatic, historical, informative, and best of all, focused.

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