Nic Compton has put together a book about the Titanic with quite a refreshing slant. Written on the basis of testimonies from the survivors at the 1912 enquiries, it is designed to capture the disbelief, the chaosTitanic on trial and the terror of the night the Titanic sank 100 years ago. After the sinking, inquiries into the loss of the 1,517 lives were held and those 1,000 pages of transcripts still represent the most thorough and complete account of the sinking. For the first time, those courtroom questions and answers have been edited and arranged in chronological order, helping draw out the real drama of the Titanic’s final night.

Called ‘Titanic on Trial’, the book looks at the events from the perspectives of people in every part of the ship, from a stoker in the boiler room escaping just before the watertight doors were sealed, to first class passengers trying to buy their way onto lifeboats.This compelling book provides a unique insight into what really happened on the night and the terrible, courageous, cowardly and tragic choices individuals had to make. Published by Adlard Coles Nautical and available from March 2012, it retails at £8.99.