TRUE TRANSATLANTIC SUPER-LINERS

At a time before budget air travel, when the ocean liner ruled the seas, the demand for speed, regularity and luxury on the transatlantic route launched a glorious era of ocean super-liners. They were truly spectacular design icons - stylish, elegant and massive in size, and beautiful to behold. They stirred imagination - their achievements and exploits were legendary and they were unique both as a group and individually, each having a distinctive character and 'look' of its own. They were veritable floating cities, the like of which had never been seen before. Included are the Imperator (later Berengaria), Vaterland (later Leviathan), Bismarck (later Majestic), Bremen, Europa (later Liberté), Rex, Normandie, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, United States, France (later Norway), Queen Elizabeth 2 and Queen Mary 2. There is approximately 16 pages devoted to each ship's equally singular story supplemented by many tales, urban myths and stunning photographs of a bygone era. The word 'super-liner' describes passenger liners having gross registered tonnage of 50,000 and higher, and invariably of around 900 feet and greater in length. The Olympic and Titanic fell outside those defined parameters. The 13 super-liners described here begin with the Imperator right up to QM2 and also includes at the bottom of the roster the Italian-flag Rex. Rex was also a racer and the fastest ship in the world and in fact six of the 13 liners in the 'super' class were at some point holders of the Atlantic Blue Riband. At the opposite end of the scale is the mighty Queen Mary 2, whose presence here might also be regarded as open to question as she spent much of her time engaged in cruising. Accommodation was divided into classes; liners carried a quantity of cargo; most were distinguished by having long open foredecks equipped with hatch gear and derricks on their masts. They mostly had circuitous promenade decks and open boat decks with the lifeboats stowed high up. Chapters cover Albert Ballin's Crushed Teutonic Dream, Glory Restored, Elevating the Mediterranean Route to New York, and The Last Greyhound among them. 216 elegant pages in landscape format, 24.5 x 22.5cm.