"On 15 April 2012, 100 years will have passed since the Royal Mail Steamer Titanic hit an iceberg and foundered in the North Atlantic with the loss of 1,513 lives. Had the disaster not occurred, what is now the best-known ship in the world would have lost the title of the largest liner within just two years. She was certainly not the fastest passenger ship of the time, or even a vessel of particularly cutting-edge technology, yet Titanic captures the imagination like no other. This book examines the many confusing myths surrounding Titanic and explores the legacy that has made the ship so well known. Why was she built? Who really owned her? Why was nobody ever proven to be negligent? How has today's transportation been made safer by Titanic? Have we really learned the right lessons? What did the band play when the ship went down? Did an officer really shoot himself? And was there a Jack Dawson, as popularised by the 1997 film? ..."--Jacket.