The Last Days of the Titanic: Photographs and Mementos of the Tragic Maiden Voyage

On the cover of The Last Days of the Titanic, Captain Smith peers at a lifeboat far below with a portentously worry-furrowed expression (there's a blow-up of the photo inside). The photo, which captures the man's soul, was taken at the start of the Titanic's trip by Francis Browne, a priest who got a ticket for the first couple days' voyage--before the Atlantic crossing--as a present from his uncle. Browne was no dumb shutterbug; he beat his classmate James Joyce on his honours exams (and Joyce put him in Finnegans Wake as "Mr. Browne, the Jesuit"). Browne studied the great masters in Florence, and his educated eye is evident in his compositions. He published Father Browne's Ireland and many other books, and the head of Kodak Great Britain took one look at Browne's work and gave him free film for life.

This book boasts several photos of unique interest, including the only known clear shot of the part of the ship that remains almost intact today, the forecastle, which hit bottom first. It's also got some human interest: Browne, who died in 1960, almost missed the chance to win the Croix de Guerre for war heroism, save souls, and make art all his life, because of the kindness of an American millionaire couple he met at dinner on the Titanic. They liked Browne so much they offered to pay his way to New York. He wired his Jesuit superior, who wired back, "GET OFF THAT SHIP."

It was, Browne noted, "the only time holy obedience saved a man's life!" And his pictures give a genuine sense of life aboard the doomed boat. --Tim Appelo