Author's Talk
JOHN WELSHMAN, TITANIC: THE LAST NIGHT OF A SMALL TOWN
Wednesday 4th July, 5.30pm.
FREE ENTRY. Advance booking required.
It was historian Walter Lord in A Night to Remember (1955) who described the sinking of the Titanic as 'the last night of a small town'.
This talk discusses the approach that author and historian Dr. John Welshman has taken in his recent book Titanic: The Last Night of a Small Town (Oxford University Press, 2012).
The book offers not just a minute-by-minute depiction of events, but explores themes — the ship's construction, social class, migration, radio — using and extending the metaphor of a small town.
The talk will feature the stories of both crew and passengers, including Liverpool connections. What were their earlier histories, their hopes and anxieties? Who survived, and why, and who perished? What happened to these people in the years after 1912? And what can we learn from their accounts?
On the centenary of the sinking, it is the individual histories of the inhabitants of the small town that this talk reconstructs. It draws on the rigorous, sceptical approach of the social historian, while at the same time retaining the vividness of the eye-witness account. The talk features short readings from the book, and it will be possible to purchase it at the event.
Educated at the Universities of York and Oxford, John is currently Senior Lecturer in History at Lancaster University. His most recent book is Titanic: The Last Night of a Small Town (Oxford University Press, 2012).
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Wednesday 4th July, 5.30pm
FREE ENTRY
Reserve tickets now
The Theatre in the Rough Festival 2012 is funded by:
The Heritage Lottery Fund
Arts Council England Grants
for the Arts
Unity Theatre Trust
And is supported by:
Merseyside Maritime Museum
Sefton MBC Arts & Cultural Services
Friends of Old Christ Church
