Archibald Gracie was probably among the last to leave the sinking Titanic on that cold April night in 1912. His is the most accurate contemporary account of what happened from the moment that the great liner hit the iceberg.
Walter Lord in A Night to Remember, called him 'an indefatigable detective' and his book 'is invaluable for chasing down who went in what boat'. Many other writers over the years have acknowledged their indebtedness to Colonel Gracie as he, as no other, provides the answer to what it was like on board the Titanic in her final hours.
The author had gone to bed early that night but was awakened by the shudder which ran through the ship as she struck. In the first part of the book he describes the personal experiences and remarkable escape from death in the icy waters of the Atlantic. From then on he tells the story of each and every boat which escaped from the Titanic in her death throws. He gives the names of the passengers and crew loaded abroad; those picked out of the water; the stowaways found concealed beneath the thwarts and those men who, without orders, jumped from the deck into boats being lowered, injuring the occupants and endangering their lives. At the same time he covers the conditions existing when each boat was lowered and the incidents which occurred in the transfer of passengers to the rescuing Carpathia.
