Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage

This work unabashedly focuses on Titanic's first-class passengers, the best-known on the ship, whose lives were the most carefully documented. Among these were the fashion designer Lucy, Lady Duff Gordon; the artist Francis D. Millet; the U.S. presidential military adviser Archibald Butt; the wealthiest man in America, John Jacob Astor IV, and his second wife, Madeleine; the English journalist W.T. Stead; and the prominent Philadelphia families the Thayers, the Wideners, and the Carters. In a departure from his usual focus on history for children, Brewster (Inside the Titanic; 882 1/2 Amazing Answers to All Your Questions About the Titanic) successfully clarifies the complex relationships among these wealthy, privileged, famous, and/or titled folks, many of whom had known or known of one another in business or social capacities for years. He is also careful to explain that some made their fortunes through hard work, not inheritance. The descriptions of the luxuries of first-class accommodations are detailed and evocative.