Titanic: Legacy of the World's Greatest Ocean Liner.

• Author: Rothenberg, Robert S.

by Susan Wels / Time-Life Books, 1997 pp. 208, $34.95

*** This appears to be "The Year of the Titanic," with all of the mass media endeavoring to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the tragic sinking. A Tony Award-winning musical is packing them in on Broadway; an assortment of television dramas and documentaries are ubiquitous on the small screen both network and cable; and the long-overdue movie version, the most expensive film ever produced is due out in December. Naturally the book industry has made sure not to be left behind, with a number of titles flowing off the presses.

Time-Life's contribution may not be the most scholarly approach to the subject, but it surely is the most attractive. Wels' text, while colorful, too often smacks of secondary sources, with few new insights making the narrative all too familiar to anyone with previous knowledge of the famed maritime disaster. There is one key exception, though. The book's description of what really doomed Titanic debunks the long-held theory that a single long gash caused the sinking. Actually, as the book reveals, the collision with the iceberg created a number of pinprick holes that allowed water to gush into the ship, eventually overflowing the supposedly watertight compartments and sending the liner to a watery grave.

Where this volume truly stands out is in the wealth of illustrative material, ranging from black-and-white historical photos of the ship's construction to underwater color shots of Titanic resting on the ocean floor to an assortment of artifacts--such as china--that have been brought to the surface by the salvage company, RMS Titanic Inc. many in amazingly preserved condition. Particularly fascinating are the photos generated by the recovery expeditions that have been unlocking the famed liner's secrets since oceanographer Robert Ballard located...