Norbert Zimmermann is an German author and historian and has been researching the history of the TITANIC for almost three decades and has published four non-fiction books in German language about the world-famous ship. 

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Zimmermann is a member of the British Titanic Society (BTS) and the German and Swiss Titanic Society. His interest in the Titanic began when he first saw the movie with Barbara Stanwyk and Robert Wagner. At that time, he was a little boy and a couple of years later, on his 15th birthday, the wreck of the Titanic was officially discovered by Dr. Robert Ballard. This was the beginning of his Titanic passion. He began to research the history of the Titanic and over the years he have been able to meet many interesting people, including relatives of Titanic passengers.

In March 2021, the English-language translation of his fourth book, “Titanic-Chronology of a Disaster”, was published.

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  Books

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Titanic-Das Ende einer Illusion (2011)

Schicksal Titanic (2012)

Der zweite Untergang der Titanic (2014)

Titanic-Chronologie einer Katastrophe (2019)

Titanic-Chronology of a Disaster (2021)

 

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Titanic – Chronology of a Disaster

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What makes this book a particularly good read is that it covers a great deal of the entire Titanic story in easily digestible bites; something not easily achieved.

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As the title states, the book follows the story chronologically and right from the start, the facts are refreshingly accompanied by the authors’ own notes.

At over 360 pages, I was at first perplexed the see the story of the ship come to a conclusion after just 125 of them, but that’s when it starts to get really interesting, as the author takes us on the journey of numerous passengers whose stories are particularly fascinating. Some are well-known, such as the Straus couple, Benjamin Guggenheim & the Astors, but the more poignant are those from the lower classes and the “Unknown Child”.

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The ships’ officers are also well documented in order of rank, before we move on to a section about the oldest survivors of the disaster; their stories too covering the well-known and those not so, but again, Zimmermann has chosen some
fascinating characters.

Of course, there always has to be someone to blame for such a tragedy and as expected, the author has covered the inquiries, the involvement of Captains Lord & Smith and J. Bruce Ismay, before moving into a short chapter about conspiracy theories. The book concludes with a thoughtful addition of a list of Titanic’s passengers & crew, well researched by Hermann Söldner.

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‘Titanic – Chronology of a Disaster’ is not meant to be something new, but it offers an excellent introduction to the entire Titanic story and for those who wish to get an overview with solid background information, this is an excellent read! As Titanic has been reinstated into the history curriculum, I would even suggest the author sends a copy to the Department for Education, as this would be the perfect book for every pupil to learn about the subject

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-British Titanic Society

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Find Norbert on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Titanichistoriker

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