Desperate Hours: The Andrea Doria Rescue

"A remarkable display of investigative reporting." -Ron Powers, co-author of Flags of Our Fathers

Praise for Desperate Hours "Goldstein's book is filled with intricate details. . . . The account of the Doria's sinking is particularly poignant." -The New York Times

"A remarkable display of investigative reporting. Goldstein has effectively transported us into lifeboats, hurtling into the North Atlantic on the night of July 25, 1956." -Ron Powers, co-author, Flags of Our Fathers, and author of Dangerous Water and Tom and Huck Don't Live Here Anymore

On an extraordinary summer night in 1956, in a fog off Nantucket, the world-renowned ocean liner Andrea Doria collided with the Swedish liner Stockholm and tragically sank eleven hours later. In that brief time, the Doria became, after the Titanic, the most renowned vessel of the century, as nearly 1,700 people were saved in an unforgettable rescue marked by numerous acts of heroism amidst confusion, terror, and even cowardice.

In the tradition of Walter Lord's A Night To Remember, Desperate Hours re-creates the ill-fated voyage, from the passengers' farewell waves at Genoa, to their final evening drink in the Doria's opulent lounge, to the astonishing realization that disaster was imminent. Richard Goldstein draws from dozens of interviews, court documents, memoirs, and reports that reveal never-before-told stories. He also presents technical findings that shed light on the responsibility for the disaster. The result is a definitive history of a fateful day, a legendary liner, and a deadly shipwreck now considered by scuba divers to be the Mount Everest of the deep.

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