National Network for Equitable Library Service

From 1906 to 1914, the Empress of Ireland, one of the fastest and most elegant liners of the Edwardian era, graced the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Remembered primarily for sinking in only 14 minutes in the St. Lawrence River and for having a greater loss of passenger life than the Titanic, the Empress's true legacy is the significant role it played in the building of Canada. During the ship's many crossings between Canada and England, it ferried royalty, politicians, scientists, authors, actors, captains of industry, and military servicemen aboard its decks, but most important, it carried more than 115,000 hopeful immigrants who left Europe to build new lives on Canadian soil. Into the Mist is the story of the Empress of Ireland, of the many people who walked its decks, and how, in the early morning of May 29, 1914, it came to rest on the bottom of the St. Lawrence River.