![]() ![]() ![]() There were actually two separate bands working on the maiden voyage of the Titanic. To their parents, their girlfriends, and surely to themselves as well, the future must have seemed bright right up until the early morning hours of April 15, 1912. Turner, a music journalist, pursued living relatives of the band members and squeezed all that he could out of “inherited photographs, documents, and anecdotes” enabling him to sketch brief but poignant portraits of eight young (or at least youngish) men, all born in an optimistic era and all members of the rising middle class. What Turner has uncovered is a narrow but unique slice of history – one more chapter of compelling Titanic lore. But their individual stories, until now, have been largely unknown. What these men did – standing calmly on deck playing throughout the disaster – achieved global recognition. ![]() The Band that Played On by Steve Turner is, surprisingly, the first book since the great ship went down to examine the lives of the eight musicians who were employed by the Titanic. ![]() Less certain is how many will find anything new to say.īut here is at least one – an early comer to the race – that has already succeeded on that count. You can be sure that the centennial will trigger a landslide of books on the subject. April 15, 2012, will mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, the world’s largest – and supposedly the safest – passenger ship of its time. ![]()
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