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. (Kirkus Reviews)
This is the first book to deal exclusively with the influence
and meaning of what media historian Paul Heyer calls our century's
first collective nightmare. Using contemporary as well as archival
sources, he explores a series of intriguing questions: Why has the
TITANIC disaster affected the way we think about ourselves and our
technology? How has the media made it into a morality play of
mythic dimensions? What impact has that story had on the
development of 20th-century communications? This timely and
compelling book pays homage to the TITANIC's fateful voyage by
attempting to explain not why she struck an iceberg on a cold April
night in 1912, but what is surely her greatest enigma: the hold the
event still has over us.
Heyer assesses the impact of the TITANIC disaster on the 20th
century by exploring the relationship between the event and a
variety of media from 1912 to the present. The role of the media in
the disaster begins with the TITANIC's distress call. Only a
partial success, it resulted in a concerted plea for more wireless
regulation. Subsequent newspaper coverage called the sinking the
story of the century. The mad scramble for information led to the
use of every possible journalistic technique, ethical or otherwise.
In his analysis, Heyer puts particular emphasis on the New York
Times, which became the paper of record and achieved international
prominence for its accurate and sometimes controversial reporting.
As soon as press coverage subsided, the TITANIC tragedy resurfaced
in literature and film. It has gone on to become one of the most
enduring myths in 20th century popular culture. Heyer examines this
phenomenon, and shows us how and why, following the discovery of
the wreck (1985) and the Challenger disaster (1986), our obsession
with the TITANIC has been greater than at any other time since
1912. This is a unique and provocative book that will appeal to
readers interested in popular history, media studies, and American
studies.
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