Cheap Titanic Explorer James Cameron's (Software) (Windows 95, Macintosh, Windows 98, Windows Me) Price

James Cameron's Titanic Explorer has two main interfaces, a time line and a browser. The time line presents information sequentially, beginning with background information about the North Atlantic shipping routes, the White Star Line, the political and economic conditions of the time, and the people who guided Titanic through design and construction. The time line continues with coverage of the sinking itself. This is where most of the movie-quality footage appears, including scenes involving Titanic's crew, some of them cut from the movie. Maps (showing the relative locations of Titanic and surrounding ships, for example), support the theatrical presentations. The time line also covers events that followed the disaster, including government inquiries in both England and the United States.

The browser interface lets you access information in a less structured way. The list of passengers and crew, complete with "X" marks next to the names of those who survived the sinking, makes good reading if you're willing to apply some imagination. What is the story behind H. Voegelin, coffee man? How about J. Bradshaw, plate washer? For the notable names on the passenger and crew lists--the Astors, the ship's officers, and so forth--there are biographies consisting of text and still pictures. The browser also provides a searchable transcript of the inquiry proceedings and an animation showing the ship's descent to the bottom. Some interesting material appears in a series of "what if" articles, which detail how things might have worked out differently if, say, Titanic had had a double hull or if she'd hit the iceberg head-on instead of grazing it. James Cameron's Titanic Explorer is a fine overview of the Titanic disaster as a history lesson. --David Wall