Book Description: The never-before told, inspiring stories of the 8 brave musicians who played as the Titanic sank.
When Titanic collided with an iceberg on April 14, the eight members of the band had already retired for the evening. Still, they put on overcoats and came out to play in the lounge. When most of the First Class passengers had taken to their lifeboats, the musicians moved to the deck and continued to play as the ship sank. One passenger said: “Many brave things were done that night, but none were more brave than those done by men playing minute after minute as the ship settled quietly lower and lower in the sea. The music they played served alike as their own immortal requiem and their right to be recalled on the scrolls of undying fame.” But who were they? What journeys brought them to this deck on this icy ocean? Who did they leave behind? Historian and biographer Steve Turner delves into the lives of these brave men, revealing eight unique portraits of bravery.
The Band That Played On by Steve Turner was written with the 100th Anniversary of Titanic in mind. This is the story of 8 different men brought together as the 2 bands aboard the Titanic. These men are the unknown heroes of this ship. These 8 men played as the ship went down and didn't stop playing until they went down with the ship. Steve Turner gives us the backgrounds of these men prior to heading aboard the ship. All 8 men were believers and a few played for their churches and other religious places in the past. Three of the men had been in the band on a ship before while the five others had done multiple tours with ships including the Olympic which had its crash with the Ladyhawk. The accounts from many of the survivors of Titanic speak of these men playing Nearer My God To Me as the ship went down. They have also stated that at one point the 8 men were kneeling and playing. The story that Steve Turned wrote depicts 8 men who had accepted their fate and instead of trying to save themselves, they gave of themselves to help the other passengers on the ship stay calm and find peace.
I would recommend this book to people who are interested in the Titanic and history itself. This doesn't go over and over the details of the sinking that we have heard many times but really gives the reader an account that hasn't really been heard.
I would enthusiastically recommend this book; It is easy to get lost in the overall tragedy and forget the individual lives and stories of the people who died. I believe it is a unique contribution to the Titanic canon and is especially apropos now, as what seems to be the violin of Wallace Hartley has recently been discovered and is undergoing tests for authenticity. It could be the single most important artifact related to the Titanic discovered thus far. Here is a link to the Amazon page for The Band That Played On, if you're interested: http://dld.bz/SM8u
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