Titanic: Freak Accident or Farce?
There has been speculation over the loss of the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Titanic ever since the tragic event of her sinking, which occurred during the night of Sunday 14 to Monday 15 April 1912. Could it have been the fault of her captain, Edward J. Smith?

Hitherto, no one has managed to explain the mindset of Titanic’s captain, Edward Smith, and thereby comprehend why, on a pitch-black night in April 1912, he drove his ship full tilt into an ice field, when he knew that there were icebergs present? Was the captain mentally ill? No, not in the sense of having one of the traditional major psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia, psychosis, bipolar disorder, etcetera, because this would have manifested itself earlier on in his lifetime. Captain Smith was aged 62 at the time of the disaster. Was he suffering from dementia? There is no evidence that this was the case.

In fact, Captain Smith’s state of mind provides a classic example of what was described by the ancient Greeks more than 2,000 years ago, As the reader will shortly discover!

This book contains hitherto unpublished photographs, for example of Laura May Cribb, from the author's hometown of Poole in Dorset, who survived the sinking, and of her father John Hatfield Cribb, who perished.
1147155777
Titanic: Freak Accident or Farce?
There has been speculation over the loss of the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Titanic ever since the tragic event of her sinking, which occurred during the night of Sunday 14 to Monday 15 April 1912. Could it have been the fault of her captain, Edward J. Smith?

Hitherto, no one has managed to explain the mindset of Titanic’s captain, Edward Smith, and thereby comprehend why, on a pitch-black night in April 1912, he drove his ship full tilt into an ice field, when he knew that there were icebergs present? Was the captain mentally ill? No, not in the sense of having one of the traditional major psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia, psychosis, bipolar disorder, etcetera, because this would have manifested itself earlier on in his lifetime. Captain Smith was aged 62 at the time of the disaster. Was he suffering from dementia? There is no evidence that this was the case.

In fact, Captain Smith’s state of mind provides a classic example of what was described by the ancient Greeks more than 2,000 years ago, As the reader will shortly discover!

This book contains hitherto unpublished photographs, for example of Laura May Cribb, from the author's hometown of Poole in Dorset, who survived the sinking, and of her father John Hatfield Cribb, who perished.
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Titanic: Freak Accident or Farce?

Titanic: Freak Accident or Farce?

by Andrew Norman
Titanic: Freak Accident or Farce?

Titanic: Freak Accident or Farce?

by Andrew Norman

Hardcover

$32.95 
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Overview

There has been speculation over the loss of the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Titanic ever since the tragic event of her sinking, which occurred during the night of Sunday 14 to Monday 15 April 1912. Could it have been the fault of her captain, Edward J. Smith?

Hitherto, no one has managed to explain the mindset of Titanic’s captain, Edward Smith, and thereby comprehend why, on a pitch-black night in April 1912, he drove his ship full tilt into an ice field, when he knew that there were icebergs present? Was the captain mentally ill? No, not in the sense of having one of the traditional major psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia, psychosis, bipolar disorder, etcetera, because this would have manifested itself earlier on in his lifetime. Captain Smith was aged 62 at the time of the disaster. Was he suffering from dementia? There is no evidence that this was the case.

In fact, Captain Smith’s state of mind provides a classic example of what was described by the ancient Greeks more than 2,000 years ago, As the reader will shortly discover!

This book contains hitherto unpublished photographs, for example of Laura May Cribb, from the author's hometown of Poole in Dorset, who survived the sinking, and of her father John Hatfield Cribb, who perished.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781036100162
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Publication date: 10/30/2025
Pages: 224
Product dimensions: 6.25(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Andrew Norman was born in Newbury, Berkshire, UK in 1943. Having been educated at Thornhill High School, Gwelo, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Midsomer Norton Grammar School, and St Edmund Hall, Oxford, he qualified in medicine at the Radcliffe Infirmary. He has two children Bridget and Thomas, by his first wife. From 1972-83, Andrew worked as a general practitioner in Poole, Dorset, before a spinal injury cut short his medical career. He is now an established writer whose published works include biographies of Charles Darwin, Winston Churchill, Thomas Hardy, T.E. Lawrence, Adolf Hitler, Agatha Christie, Enid Blyton, Beatrix Potter, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Robert Mugabe. Andrew married his second wife Rachel, in 2005.
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