Presented here are personal interviews with survivors and their relatives, and biographies of the women and children as well as the male passengers and crew with whom they had contact. The passengers' own voices are recorded in diaries, letters, and newspaper stories. Each passenger section (first class, second class, and third class) is introduced with a brief overview on the conventions of society at the turn of the twentieth century, when survival in life, as on this doomed ship, depended too often on social class.

Also assembled here are fascinating color photographs of recently recovered artifacts, linked to their owners wherever possible, as well as period postcards, advertisements, and pictures. This book contains the most up-to-date passenger list yet published; a chart of the women and children who perished or were saved presented by class; and a comprehensive index which make this not just a moving chronicle of a uniquely painful event but also an invaluable resource.