Bristow, D.E. (Diana E.). Californian and Titanic, Facts vs Myths. 1st printing. Pembroke Pines, FL: by the author. 2001. wraps. spiral bound. isbn: none. scarcity: hard to find.

Diana's new work is a 70+ page, oversized, spiral bound booklet in which she collates and updates some of her theories from her previous books about the Titanic and the Californian. The primary focus of this booklet is the most in-depth examination of the meaning and import of Titanic's distress rockets I have ever read. The author develops a completely fresh way of looking at the issue of the rockets, and does a very credible job of explaining an alternate theory as to why ships on the ocean that night, including Californian, might not have realized Titanic needed assistance.

This is fascinating stuff. The author has written a powerful defense of the Lordite position; a much more effective argument than either Peter Padfield, or Leslie Harrison ever did. If you have an interest in the celebrated Californian Incident, you owe it to yourself to read this one.

Very slightly revised from the original printing, with about two additional pages concerning the coal fire.

Historical fiction about the Titanic from the author who has written two compelling nonfiction titles about alternate theories of the disaster. In this novel, the author interweaves the research from her two nonfiction titles into her fictional story.

My thanks to Fiona Nitschke for mentioning this one.

Bristow, D.E. (Diana E.). Captain’s Karma. 1st trade edition. 1stBooks Library. January, 2001. wraps. fiction. isbn: 1588206106. scarcity: fairly common.

This version is the first trade edition, which is, technically speaking, the second printing.

For more information about this title, go to the 1st Books Library website.

Bristow, D.E. (Diana E.). Titanic Calling. expanded edition. limited edition. Turlock, CA: Katco Media. September, 2004. wraps. fiction. isbn: 0964648482. scarcity: hard to find.

This book was originally written in 1985. It was first published privately by the author in 1997 in a limited edition with the title Captain’s Karma. It was released publically in 2001 under the same title. Both those editions were edited for content on the advice of the author’s New York City agent at the time.

Now for the first time, the book is being published as the author originally intended it to be read. Bristow states that this version is more vivid, realistic and sexier than the older one. This edition sports a striking new front cover illustration as well.

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Publisher’s Press Release:
Exactly What did the Captain Hear?

Radio interference? Static? Or a ghostly call from the depths below?

For Century Airlines Pilot Jake Adams, it's been a routine Transatlantic flight. That is, until Jake, once again, hears a static ridden call. Morse Code.

But it's not just random dots and dits. Instead, a very distinct message.... SOS. And it's not an average stretch of ocean below. Six miles beneath Jake's 747 lies the very location where the legendary RMS Titanic met her fate with the souls of more than 1,500 people.

Suddenly, without warning all four engines of the 747 fail. Jake and his crew are left in an emergency state not so different than that facing the doomed ship ninety years before.

Jake and his crew will undergo a journey through time to learn what secrets the doomed Titanic has to finally chosen to reveal. Find out why Jake has been picked to learn the truth...

The Titanic is Indeed Calling. What Does She Want?

This book is available for sale on the Titanic Book Store page.

Bristow, D.E. (Diana E.). Titanic R.I.P. Can Dead Men Tell Tales?. Detroit: Harlo Press. 1989. wraps. isbn: 0818701137. scarcity: very scarce.

This is the author’s scarce first book, in which she lays down the foundation of the theories and opinions she later expounded on so eloquently in her later, massive work Titanic, Sinking the Myths. R.I.P. is a fascinating look at Bristow’s early thinking on some of her alternate theories about the disaster. She begins by detailing an extensive list of mishaps with ice that occurred in the months just prior to Titanic’s maiden voyage, attempting to show that Titanic’s officers must have been aware of serious problems with icebergs before they even left port.

She also attempts to prove that Titanic was on the shorter, Northern track, normally reserved for eastbound voyages. Her theory being that White Star pretended to be on the Southern track, while actually using the Northern one to make it appear that Titanic was a much faster ship than she actually was.

Finally, she believes that the celebrated ‘Mystery Ship’ that was observed by the officers on the Californian, was any one of several German ships in the region that night. Her theory here being that the fierce competition between the Marconi operators of the British ships and the Telefunken operators of the German ones prevented Phillips and Bride from taking advantage of the nearer German vessels to aid the sinking ship.

Bristow has done a tremendous amount of research outside of the usual reference sources, especially in the German language material. Even though I don’t necessarily agree with her conclusions, her contribution to expanding the Titanic story with fresh documentation is a significant addition to the field.

Bristow, D.E. (Diana E.). Titanic: Sinking the Myths. 1st printing. Fresno: Katco Literary Group. September, 1995. wraps. illustrated by Ryan Katzenbach & James Allen Flood. isbn: 0964648407. scarcity: hard to find.

The author has the distinction of bringing fresh material to the Titanic story. Bristow did a tremendous amount of research in areas ignored by most other historians, particularly in the German language material. As such her book is a gold mine of new information. The author has strong views, and proposes some radical new theories. I disagree with some of her conclusions, but others are very intriguing. One of her most important contributions, perhaps, is the very first chapter, which is nothing less than a primer on the jargon of 1912 naval history and terminology. It should be required reading for anyone interested in the subject.

Apparently, at least some copies were issued in a hardcover library binding for the library market.

This book is available for sale on the Titanic Book Store page.