see
The intimate welding of their later history,
Or sign that they were bent
By paths coincident
On being anon two halves of one august event,
Till the Spinner of the Years
Said ‘Now!’ And each one hears,
And consummation comes, and jars two hemispheres.
Thomas Hardy, The Convergence of the Twain
(Lines on the loss of the ‘Titanic’) (1912)
CONTENTS
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Dramatis Personae
Author’s Note
1. The Lords Act
2. The Sash My Father Wore
3. Southampton
4. A Contest of Sea Giants
5. A Safe Harbour for Ships
6. The Lucky Holdup
7. A Decent Wee Man
8. A Kind of Hieroglyphic World
9. Its Own Appointed Limits Keep
10. Two More Boilers
11. A Thousand Uneasy Sparks of Light
12. Going Up to See the Fun
13. Music in the First-Class Lounge
14. Vox faucibus haesit
15. Be British
16. Over the Top Together
17. The Awful Spectacle
18. Grip Fast
19. Where’s Daddy?
20. Extend Heartfelt Sympathy to All
21. The Spinner of the Years
Picture Section
Footnotes
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgements
About the Author
By the Same Author
About the Publisher
THE COUNTESS OF ROTHES
LUCY-NOËLLE-MARTHA LESLIE, Countess of Rothes
NORMAN LESLIE, 19TH EARL OF ROTHES, her husband
MALCOLM, VISCOUNT LESLIE, their eldest son, later 20th Earl of Rothes
THE HONOURABLE JOHN LESLIE, their youngest son
GLADYS CHERRY, the Earl’s cousin and the Countess’s travelling companion
CLEMENTINA and THOMAS DYER-EDWARDES, the Countess’s parents
ROBERTA (‘CISSY’) MAIONI, the Countess’s lady’s maid
THOMAS ANDREWS
THOMAS ANDREWS, Managing Director of the Harland and Wolff shipyard
HELEN ANDREWS, his wife
ELIZABETH ANDREWS, their daughter
WILLIAM, 1ST LORD PIRRIE, Thomas’s uncle, Chairman of Harland and Wolff
THE STRAUSES
IDA STRAUS, a philanthropist
ISIDOR STRAUS, Ida’s husband, a former congressman for New York and co-owner of Macy’s department store
ELLEN BIRD, Ida’s lady’s maid
JOHN FARTHING, Isidor’s valet
| JESSE STRAUS CLARENCE STRAUS PERCY STRAUS SARA HESS MINNIE WEIL HERBERT STRAUS VIVIAN SCHEFTEL |
|
Ida and Isidor’s children |
THE THAYERS
JOHN BORLAND THAYER, Second Vice-President of the Pennsylvania Railroad
MARIAN THAYER, his wife
JOHN BORLAND THAYER III (‘JACK’), their eldest child
MARGARET FLEMING, Marian’s lady’s maid
| FREDERICK THAYER MARGARET THAYER (LATER TALBOTT) PAULINE THAYER (LATER DOLAN) |
|
The Thayers’ younger children |
