The book ‘Raise the Titanic’ by Clive Cussler is remarkable. First, it belongs to a different era. The author weaves a story about an imaginary radioactive element byzanium which is to be used for a programme called the Sicilian Project. I would love it if someone explained to me how the project is actually meant to work. However, the novel has other fascinating aspects. For one, the hoax in Central City, Colorado that enabled the byzanium to be carried from Novaya Zemlya to Scotland and then to its final resting place. There is the great adventure of first locating the Titanic and then using all resources, human or mechanical with desperation, to raise the ship from the ocean. Then there is the battle to bring the Titanic to its original destination-New York. Finally there is the wonderful detective work from the macho Dirk Pitt, the real hero of the novel. Perhaps the book could be a little more interesting and a bit fair to the ladies.
The story goes like this. A mineralogist Sid Koplin is sent to the Bednaya Mountains to look for byzanium for the Sicilian Project. Koplin does find an abandoned mine and traces of byzanium but is shot at. He is saved by Dirk Pitt, the Special Director of National Underwater and Marine Agency(NUMA).Gene Seagram and Mel Donner are both associated with Meta Section that handles the Sicilian Project. They research old records to determine that the byzanium from Bednaya, the only sample available is in fact on board the Titanic. A massive operation is launched to lift the Titanic from the sea with Dirk Pitt in charge. In the end it is a futile move. Dirk Pitt shows matchless ability to locate the byzanium on his own.