A wide-ranging assessment of how and why the sinking of the Titanic has remained a perdurable part of the West's sociocultural heritage. In a brief introduction Heyer (Communications/Simon Fraser Univ., British Columbia) summarizes the known facts of the maritime tragedy that resulted in the loss of over 1,500 lives. After concluding that the great ship represented a form of technological hubris, the author turns his attention to wireless radiotelegraphy, a then advanced communications medium whose central role in the calamity made Guglielmo Marconi a household name in the UK and US. War reportage apart, Heyer characterizes the loss of the Titanic as one of the 20th century's biggest single-event news stories. Examining the print era's coverage on both sides of the Atlantic (which he ranks second only to JFK's assassination in volume), the author details how the New York Times emerged as the fourth estate's clear winner by dint of intelligent enterprise and unrivaled resources, including controversial ties to Marconi. Heyer then focuses on the many ways in which the fate of the Titanic has captured the imagination of filmmakers, folk singers, and writers. Cases in point range from Thomas Hardy through the oddly assorted likes of Clive Cussler, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Joseph Goebbels, Leadbelly, George Bernard Shaw, and Danielle Steel. The author touches on the intrepid aquanauts who in 1985 located the doomed craft's wreckage more than 13,000 feet below the North Atlantic's surface. In closing he draws parallels between the ill-starred steamship and Noah's Ark. Engrossing and original perspectives on a maritime misfortune that retains its fascination deep into the space age. (photos and maps, not seen)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-275-95352-1
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Praeger
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1995
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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