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Why does the story of the Titanic retain such a hold on the popular imagination, one hundred years after it sank on the night of 15 April 1912? In this new centenary edition, Howells explores the myths around the Titanic legend, showing what they reveal about the culture of their time, as well as the role that myth still plays in our lives today. Updated for the centenary of the sinking of the most famous ship in modern history,this is a fascinating and engaging exploration of the Titanic story and mythology

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Revised and expanded, this new edition of The Myth of the Titanic locates the centenary of the sinking of this most famous ´Unsinkable Ship´ within its historical, mythical and intellectual context. Richard Howells demonstrates the important difference between the rusting remains of the physical ship and the mythical Titanic that has replaced it in popular culture. By tracing the mythology of the Titanic back to 1912, he shows how late Edwardian society began the process by creating a triumph out of a tragedy. In doing so, Howells not only provides an invaluable insight into the social values of the time, but also reflects upon the far broader relationship between myth, history and popular culture today.

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Acknowledgements List of Illustrations ´Remember the Titanic´ A Brief History of the Titanic Myth and the Titanic ´Women and Children First!´´We Shall Die Like Gentlemen´´Be British!´´Nearer, My God, to Thee´´The Unsinkable Ship´ Conclusion Notes Bibliography and Sources Index

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´Howells´ book is a model of cultural history, thoroughly researched, carefully argued and consistently illuminating.´ - Professor Jeffrey Richards, Times Higher Education Supplement ´Richard Howells makes a gripping story out of the fashioning of a myth. He delights equally in the fixing of the facts which unsettle the fairy stories, as he does in the richly human stories themselves. Taking on the movie and showing up its mythic deceptions without a tremor, he turns to face Edwardian England just as coolly, and quietly identifies its necessary illusions. Then he rolls up all the tales into a single mighty myth, all the while doing justice to truth, to horror, to sentimentality, and to a rattling good read.´ - Fred Inglis, Professor of Cultural Studies, University of Sheffield, UK ´Finally a book that probes not only the cultural frameworks enclosing the Titanic disaster between 1912 and 1914, but how those frameworks endure today.´ - John R. Stilgoe, Harvard University ´This book is very well referenced... and will prove a reference work in its own right.´ - Atlantic Daily Bulletin (Journal of the British Titanic Society) ´[Howells] crafts an easily accessible, well-organized, and logical book...´ - Kristi A. Bell, Journal of American Folklore

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