Ruffman, Alan. Titanic Remembered. The Unsinkable Ship and Halifax. 1st American printing. Halifax: Formac Publishing. April, 2000. wraps. isbn: 0887804675. scarcity: fairly common.

In this book, Ruffman tells the story of the Halifax connection in the Titanic tragedy. In roughly 20 chapters he concentrates on six major topics, the creation of the Titanic, her maiden voyage, the cable ship recovery of bodies, the return to Halifax (where most of the victims were buried), some insights, new and old about the victims, and the rediscovery of the wreck. There is also a chapter on Halifax’s Titanic sites, with a map.

The chapters are brief, typically two to three pages each, but the coverage is well researched. The book is filled with pictures, many which show notable Halifax locations, then and now. Another highlight of the book is the many photographs of artifacts permanently on display in Halifax at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

Halifax, Canada was the closest major port to where the Titanic went down. As a matter of fact, after the Carpathia rescue, Captain Rostron briefly considered landing the survivors there, but ultimately decided to return them to New York.

Never the less, Halifax played a major role in the aftermath of the disaster. It is from here that four cable ships were eventually sent with the mission of recovering as many of the victims as possible. Just over 300 bodies were eventualy recovered, and almost 200 were returned to Halifax (the rest were buried at sea).

It was during these recovery operations that many Titanic artifacts were also recovered which now form the foundation of the museum’s exhibit.