Rating: 
Summary: An excellent way to experience a bit of history.
Review: A wonderful read. The narrative that accompanies these recipes delightfully takes you back to the Edwardian era of overindulgence. The photographs of artifacts and the concise information on some of the passengers reminds you of the tragic losses that took place on that cold April night.
Rating:
Summary: Buy two copies!
Review: Although "celebrating" the last meal before a horrible shipwreck is not in good taste; this is a fine book for the Titanicophile and the historical cooking enthusiast. The recipes and the historical background are interesting, and could be used to recreate other meals of the era. (e.g. a pre-WWI meal for the Sherlock Holmes story "His Last Bow". Holmes had to travel to America by steamer to become Altamont) Meals of all classes are included. Regard it as a tribute to the chefs and staff of the great liner's dining salons/restaurants. Several Titanic survivors recall that the last meal was the best one of the voyage. An insight into the tastes of an era. Hope there's a larger revised edition soon.
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Summary: Go Down In Style
Review: Congratulations! You're on your way to purchasing one of the best cookbooks around, a truly gourmet mix of history and culinary art second to none.
First and foremost, "Last Dinner on the Titanic" is a cookbook, and an amazing one at that. The recipes recreated here are indeed taken straight from that fateful Atlantic crossing in April 1912. The recipies are (for the most part) thoughtfully and interestingly grouped by menu from the area of the ship in which they were served, e.g., the First Class Dining Room, the Parisian Cafe, the Third Class Dining Room, etc. Thus, you get a broad spectrum of foods of the time, or at least the Chef d' Cusine's interpretation of foods of the time. And what a spectrum it is. You can pick and choose from Tripe Stew to Filet Mignon Lili to Lobster Thermidor with Duchesse Potatoes to "American Ice Cream". Or, if you're up to it, try and take on the entire First Class Menu from the night the Titanic went down, with all 11 courses in all of their glory.
I have now made several of the recipes from the book and they are (a) not too terribly difficult; and (b) extremely good. Don't get me wrong -- I'm sure making all of this on a ship in 1912 was extremely challenging; but for those of us at home in 2004, the modern conveniences (food processors especially) make these recipes a little easier to tackle. That's the great think about this book -- you can actually use it, although you will also be fascinated by the historical aspect as well. The Canapes L'Amiral and the Roast Sirloin Forestiere are partiuclarly good dishes.
Second, and almost as good as the food itself, the authors do a tremendous job of weaving history into this cookbook. When I got this book, I almost read it cover to cover just because it is so darn interesting. The history is not stuffy like an old text book; rather, it is extremely vivid and interspersed with photos, drawings, and anecdotes both from passengers who survived and those who did not. So you not only get the food of the period, you get the "feel" of the period as well. The authors even give you a tailor-made plan for throwing a real Titanic party if you want, right down to what to wear and how to fold the napkins! I could go on and on about the great stuff you'll learn, but I'll just say as a final selling point that every person who has seen this book in my house picks it up, sits down, and leafs through most of the entire thing. Yes, it's really that compelling and interesting, even 95 years later.
So grab it right now, and bon appetit and bon voyage!
Rating:
Summary: great for titanic dinner parties
Review: excellent recipes for those willing to take the time.I cooked 5 of the first class entries all of which were very good,especially the beef barley soup.The third class pork roast also sounds like it has the ingredients to be something special.great book , great cook book.it really adds something when you have the dinner and watch the movie.
Rating:
Summary: This book was useful and interesting.
Review: I have been studing the TITANIC since the second grade. I found the this book useful and interesting, in the way of preparing period food.I owe the great success of my re-creation dinner for fifteen people. This book helped me ,and my friends, to revise and shorten the menu, from the original 11 course menu shown in the book! All the period etiquette, table settings, and dress pointers and tips were great in re-creating the period feel of the Last Dinner on the TITANIC. Out of all my books in my TITANIC collection, this one is one of my favorites.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent record of a little known facet of the Disaster.
Review: On April 14, 1912 Capt. Edward Smith attended a dinner party held in his honor in the Titanic's Ala Carte resturant. "Last Dinner on The Titanic" tells the story of that night fromn the Diner's point of view,using the menus and very tasty recipes eaten that cold night. The book also tells how to host the perfect Edwardian dinner party. Complete with Hundreds of pictures and Illusrations. This volume is an Excellent account a little known facet of life aboard the "Titanic" and in her era. It would make an excellent addition to any Titanic scholar or cooks Library.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent record of a little known facet of the Disaster.
Review: On April 14, 1912 Capt. Edward Smith attended a dinner party held in his honor in the Titanic's Ala Carte resturant. "Last Dinner on The Titanic" tells the story of that night fromn the Diner's
point of view,using the menus and very tasty recipes eaten that cold night.
The book also tells how to host the perfect Edwardian dinner party. Complete with Hundreds of pictures and Illusrations.
This volume is an Excellent account a little known facet of life aboard the "Titanic" and in her era.
It would make an excellent addition to any Titanic scholar or cooks Library.
Rating: 
Summary: Additional information
Review: On the third class menu, there is a dessert called "Coconut Sandwich". The authors admit that they do not know what this is but go ahead and guess that it is some kind of sandwich cookie. Actually, it is quite well known that in England, a sandwich cake is what we call a layer cake. There is a recipe in Mrs Bridges Cookbook (Upstairs, downstairs) called Victoria Sponge Sandwich which is definitely a layer cake. I have often seen this term used and am surprised that the authors were not able to find it. Otherwise I loved the book
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Summary: Fascinating and full of surprises
Review: One of the key surprises in this book is the fact that third-class passengers on the Titanic ate better than we do. A large color photograph on page 114 shows a water stained menu recovered from the body of a third-class passenger.It says that the third-class breakfast on the morning of April 12, 1912 was oatmeal porridge and milk, smoked herrings, jacket potatoes, tripe and onions, fresh something something (seawater has eaten away the print) and butter, marmalade and (illegible again) bread. Beverages were tea and coffee. Who eats a more nutritious breakfast now? Dinner in the third-class dining saloon was vegetable soup (made from scratch), roasted pork with sage and onions, green peas, boiled potatoes, plum pudding with sweet sauce, cabin biscuits and (a real delicacy for the time) oranges. When was the last time you had a plum pudding with sweet sauce or vegetable soup made from scratch? If it's been too long, you can make these and other things on the third-class dinner or tea menu, using recipes in this book. Titanic's third-class accommodations were clean and comfortable and its two dining saloons were white and well lit. They had to be. The Titanic expected to compete with many other ships for the trade of millions of immigrants bound for America. And that's where the White Star steamship line hoped to make its money, not from the flashier passengers in first- and second-class. Food in second-class was pretty grand, rather like a middle-class family's Sunday dinner when somebody important was expected to visit. A second-class menu for April 14, 1912 says that the first course was consomme with tapioca. Second course offered a choice from among baked haddock with sharp sauce, curried chicken and rice, lamb with mint sauce or roast turkey with savory cranberry sauce. Side dishes were turnip puree, green peas, boiled rice and boiled or roast potatoes. Turnip puree was delicious, actually, judging by its recipe. The dessert course in second class offered more choices than the third-class menu, but plum pudding and sweet sauce were there, just as in third-class. The book gives recipes for anything in these first, second and third courses which really needs a recipe. There is even a recipe for making a special second-class dessert delicacy: American Ice Cream. First-class meals were spectacular, and they were served in a variety of cafes, saloons, restaurants and reception rooms. You'd prefer the meals in first class to those in third- or second-class. You can trust me on this. And so, another pleasant surprise is that the book gives menus and recipes for a vast, complete first-class dinner which you can make for yourself and some especially fortunate friends. Plus, there's a two-page make-ahead chart. It tells how to divide your dinner-making chores into several groups, starting three days before dinner.
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Summary: Dining with the doomed
Review: They dined in pristine opulence on gourmet fare such as Quail Eggs with Caviar, while steaming unknowingly into oblivion. Such was the situation when the hundreds of privileged first class passengers aboard the Titanic sat down to dinner on April 14, 1912. Authors Rick Archbold and Dana McCauley have capitalized on the renewed fascination with the doomed vessel with the compilation of their book "Last Dinner on the Titanic: Menus and Recipes from the Great Liner." Any intial sense that thte subject is macabre is erased by the artistic presentation and quality of the work, which gives the reader a grasp of what gastronomic delights were available on the famous ship. Descriptions and anecdotes are illustrated with archival photos and period paintings to foster a visual journey back in time. Three galleys were utilized by a staff of 80 workers to prepare 6,000 meals a day to feed the 2,223 passengers and crew. This voyage was unique in that even third class passengers restricted to the bowels of the boat were provided food in the price of their passage, even if was no fancier than simple stew. Prior to this, this class of traveler, which was typically comprised of immigrant groups, had to bring their own nourishment.
Of the 50 dishes researched from the actual menu, many fail to translate to modern appetites, such as consomme olga, which is made using the dried spinal marrow of sturgeon. As a result, the recipes provide as much historical insight into the social customes of the era as does the text. Also interesting are suggestions offered by the authors for staging one's own Titanic party, with much attention given to recreation rather than replication. The exact placement of dinnner ware and precise designs of folded napkins are dicussed as well as thumbnail sketches of actual passengers today's partygoers can imitate. While the elegance could be inviting, a participant would have to wonder what exactly would be the proper way to conclude the evening. Would singing a few bars of "Nearer My God to Thee" be too gauche?
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