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This is an excellent resource for young adults to learn about the sinking of the Titanic. It is very complete while being succinct. The text covers the entire voyage from the day it left dry dock, through the short journey up the coast to when it set off across the Atlantic, the disaster and the aftermath, including impact on the world immediately after that and finally a little about the discovery of the wreck. I found just the right amount of information, not too much, not too little. The couple of questions I had left were really not appropriate for a book aimed at young people or were ones for which there are probably no certain answers. There are several tables of data at the end for anyone wanting to learn more intricate details and I found myself referring back to them as I read the text.

Illustrating the stories were amazing photographs taken by a young priest who was told to disembark in Ireland by the church even though a rich couple had offered to pay his way to the US. It was disturbing to think about the fact that most of the people in the photos only had days to live. Other photos that have been alleged to be from the Titanic are clarified to be from its sister ship the Olympic. Drawings from newspapers and diagrams round out the illustrations. My only complaint is that the ship's diagram points out all sorts of sections but practically none of the areas mentioned in the accounts. For example, I wanted to know which decks were which such as the Promenade and the third class deck. I wanted to be able to picture exactly where people were, where each lifeboat was, etc., but it's just nitpicking considering the wealth of information in 280 pages.

But the true beauty of the book is that the story is told from the perspectives of some of the survivors gleaned from interviews after they returned to port and during the inquiries. They paint full pictures of real people, the true heroism of most of the passengers along with the very few less than admirable acts. I've seen the movie and read bits here and there but this painted a real picture for me of what happened and what it must have been like (as far as anyone who wasn't there could imagine). I was really impressed with how nonjudgmental the text tried to be, even when talking about the company owner's rush to save himself at the expense of others and the attitudes of the haughty first class passengers in a near-empty boat when asked if they considered going back for survivors. The author let the interviews speak for themselves.

Finally, the book directs readers to a number of appropriate and specific online resources to find more information and encourages readers to become researchers themselves. Even though the book is geared towards young adults and greatly interested my teen, it was exactly right for my own level of interest in the subject as well.