Titanic's Last Secrets: The Further Adventures of Shadow Divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler
Written by Brad Matsen
Narrated by Henry Leyva
4/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
Brad Matsen
Brad Matsen has written about the sea and its inhabitants for forty years in books, film scripts, essays and magazine articles. He is the author of the New York Times best sellers Titanic's Last Secrets: The Heroic Discovery of the Abyss and Jacques Cousteau: The Sea King among other books, and was a creative producer for the television series The Shape of Life. His articles have appeared in Mother Jones, Audubon, and Nature, among other publications. He divides his time between Seattle and New York City.
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Reviews for Titanic's Last Secrets
98 ratings11 reviews
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I had a hard time keeping track of who was who and what was going on. I will try this again some other time.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A good read and a must for every Titanic buff but you'll have to push yourself through the first few chapters where Matsen tries to "get real" by quoting (without quotation marks by the way) the "manly banter" between John Chatterton and Richie Kholer, the so-called Shadow Divers. They add virtually nothing to the story except to mention the Shadow Divers and lend a "they got me" (to buy another self-aggrandizing Titanic book) aura to an otherwise well written book. Once Matsen gets into the history, the book is hard to put down, but as the fates would have it, he eventually returns to those rascally Shadow Divers and ends on a somewhat down note. As a Titanic buff, my one criticism is Matsen's conclusion that not only was Titanic a fatally flawed ship but was intentionally so. Not true. The world was learning how to build big ships and, yes, they made mistakes, fatal ones, but not intentionally. It's easy to criticize nearly 100 years after the fact. By that measure, we should indict NASA for purposely sending Apollo 13 into orbit with a fatally flawed power cells. Nevertheless, a good read and a recommendation.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This historical nonfiction title is another in a series by author, Brad Matsen who chronicles the adventures of two scuba divers/treasure hunters, John Chatterton and Richie Kohler. The storyline is unique, in that the emphasis is on discovering why Titanic sank so quickly while being a brand new steel icon of the time.Intense writing portrays situations during present day and in the past in a historically accurate and detailed view. While multiple flashbacks set the quick tone, dialogue moves the the story along in present day, in which vast details are revealed about ship building to help understand and quicken the pace. The dangerous underwater setting and flashbacks to 1912 set the tone for a "nail-biting" discovery on both fronts with many of the original, historical figures who were on the fateful liner that night. Prominent characters, from the present day divers who make some startling discoveries about Titanic, to the actual seamen and ship builders during the Industrial Age, draw an accurate picture of the time they lived in and help make them "relatable" to any lover of history or adventure. The reader is draw into the story with this sympathetic yet accurate depiction of why the Titanic sunk in a little over hours on April 14, 1912.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I found this book quite interesting, both the parts regarding the divers in the present day, and the biographies of the historical personages. It presented information I hadn't known and changed my understanding of the Titanic tragedy significantly. Definitely worth the read, and worth adding to one's collection of popular history.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Full disclosure time - I am a borderline "Titaniac". I find the story of the Titanic to be even more fascinating than other maritime disasters like the Lusitania, the Bismark, and the Edmund Fitzgerald. I enjoyed reading this book, which brought new information to the table about how the great ship went down so quickly, mixed with the history of the ship, its construction, launch and ultimately its end and the aftermath. I would have preferred to have seen documentary evidence claimed to be seen by the previous archivist of the shipyard that built Titanic, but it's a thought provoking book all the same. Worth the read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I was fascinated on the details of ship building back then.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This was an awesome read, if you're interested in the true story of the Titanic. I especially liked the background knowledge of the owners and their companies.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Seems like half the book is a history of shipping lines and mini biographies of MANY people (who had something to do with - eventually - the Titanic. NOT what I was looking for. Very deceptive title. Only finished it because I had nothing else available to read at the time. Can only recommend it you're REALLY fascinated by this tragedy and have read/seen everything else about it.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is about the people who discovered the Titanic go back for a second look to find out why the Titanic really sunk Did you ever wonder why the titanic sink without more of a warning? I think that this book is a must read for all!This audio book was loaned to me by a friend
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Author Brad Matsen tells the story of divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler who learn of a tantalizing new clue to the sinking of the Titanic and set out to explore the famous wreck. When the clue turns out to be a red herring, they seek to salvage their expedition by searching unexamined areas of the Titanic site. They make a discovery that they feel finally explains why the ship sank so quickly, despite all the safety measures in place.Titanic’s Last Secrets goes back and forth between the modern-day expedition and an account of the building and sinking of the ship, as well as the turn of the century investigation of the disaster. Even for those familiar with that story, there are interesting details in the chapters focusing on the birth and death of the Titanic. Matsen’s narrative zips along and is an easy read. He saves the discovery for the end of the book, so I’ll explain the new theory as a spoiler for those who want to follow the path of the Titanic’s Last Secrests without knowing its conclusion.SPOILER FOLLOWSChatterton and Kohler find two massive sections of the Titanic’s hull on the ocean floor far from the rest of the wreck. After analysis, they conclude that the design of the ship was inherently weak and that parts of its double-hulled bottom section broke off while the boat was still on the surface. They state that the Titanic’s design was simply a scaled up version of smaller boats and that at the ship’s huge size it was fundamentally unstable. When the bow of the ship began to fill with water after being damaged by the iceberg it struck, that weight put tremendous stress on the middle of the boat. Parts of the hull cracked and fell away under the pressure, allowing water to rush in. A ship that should have floated for hours -- the time required for the Carpathia to reach the Titanic and rescue all its passengers and crew -- soon plummeted under the water. They also speak with the long-time archivist of the ship's manufacturer, Harland and Wolff, who says the the company's own belief for why ship sank (kept secret since the disaster) was exactly the same as Chatterton and Kohler's. Their thesis ignores the prevailing theory that substandard rivets caused the ship’s hull to open like a zipper on impact with the iceberg. Personally I find that a much more compelling explanation and much better supported by the evidence we have. None-the-less, I found Titanic’s Last Secrets thoroughly enjoyable – although I remain unconvinced of its assertions.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5If you thought you knew everything there was about the Titanic then think again. Titanic’s Last Secrets gives readers a new; clean prospective on a famous tragedy that has captivated us all. The dynamic team of Brad Matsen and deep sea divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler have teamed up to share their wealth of knowledge as well as in depth research on this well-known ship and in doing so they produced a wonderful book. John Chatterton and Richie Kohler travel to the wreckage of the Titanic to disprove a myth about what really happened that day. Titanic’s Last Secrets is like a history lesson is supposed to be like… fun and exciting. From the first page, I got caught up in the anticipation as well as excitement to when Chatterton and Kohler first discovered something new about the Titanic that no one else had ever laid eyes on before. With Brad Matsen’s writing style, he made it so real that it was like I was there every step of the way. I appreciate the risks Chatterton and Kohler went though by risking their lives to bring truth and justice for all those innocent souls that perished for greed. For anyone that is fascinated with the history of the Titanic then this is the book for you, so pick up a copy of Titanic’s Last Secrets today. This is one book that will have people talking.