William H. Miller, 'Mr Ocean Liner', looks back at the great ships owned and operated by Cunard-White Star during the 1930s.

Photographs, prints, and text portray Cunard ships, inside and out, from the earliest steamships, through the great liners of the earlier twentieth century, to modern cruise ships

This fascinating text-and-picture tribute documents both interiors and exteriors of majestic British ships such as the Viceroy of India, the Orion, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, Windsor Castle, Pacific Princess, Royal Princess, Crown Princess, and Aurora. Over 200 rare black-and-white illustrations provide views of the ships at sea and in port.

Authoritative, profusely illustrated volume describes the ships' debuts, amenities, rivalry, and contributions during WWII. Also covered: their grand royal successors: Queen Elizabeth 2 and Queen Mary 2. 189 photographs.

Responding to Titanic's distress calls in the early hours of 15 April 1912, Captain Arthur Rostron raced the Cunard liner Carpathia to the scene of the sinking, rescued the seven hundred survivors of the world's most famous shipwreck and then carried them to safety at New York. After twenty-five years at sea, the competence and compassion Rostron displayed during the rescue made him a hero on two continents and presaged his subsequent achievements. During the First World War he participated in the invasion of Gallipoli and commanded Cunard's Mauretania as a hospital ship in the Mediterranean and a troop transport in the Atlantic. As her longest-serving master he commanded that legendary vessel in transatlantic passenger service through most of the 1920s. Rostron retired in 1931 as the most esteemed master mariner of his era, celebrated for the Titanic rescue, decorated for his war service, and knighted for his contributions to British seafaring. This account uses newspaper reports, company records, government documents, contemporary publications and memoirs to recount Rostron's seafaring life from his first voyage as an apprentice rounding Cape Horn in sail to his retirement forty-four years later as commodore of the Cunard Line. Set within the context of his times and featuring particulars of the ships in which he served and commanded, this is the first comprehensive biography of Arthur Rostron before, during and after his year as captain of the Carpathia.

MARITIME HISTORY. The White Star Line was one of the most illustrious and controversial names in the history of passenger shipping. Its origins lay in Liverpool in the early 19th century, chartering sailing ships to Australia, but financial difficulties led to its takeover by Thomas Ismay in the 1860s. The company grew quickly to dominate the North Atlantic route, with famous ships such as Britannic and Germanic taking the Blue Riband for the fastest crossing several times in the late 19th century. At the turn of the century the company established an unrivaled standard of luxury in its new quartet of ships known as the Big Four, which led to the construction of the Olympic Class, which included Titanic. Despite the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, the Olympic had a long and successful career as the flagship of the White Star Line before the financial pressures of the Depression in the 1930s forced the merger of White Star with its rival Cunard.

Before the advent of commercial transatlantic flights in the early 1950s, the only way to travel between continents was by sea. In the golden age of ocean liners, between the late nineteenth century and the Second World War, shipping companies ensured their vessels were a home away from home, providing entertainment, dining, sleeping quarters and smoking lounges to accommodate passengers of all ages and budgets, for voyages that could last as long as three months.Secrets of the Great Ocean Liners leads the reader through each of the stages - and secrets - of ocean liner travel, from booking a ticket and choosing a cabin to shore excursions, dining, on-board games, social events, romances, and disembarking on arrival. Additional chapters disclose wartime voyages and disasters at sea. The shipping companies produced glamorous brochures, sailing schedules, voyage logs, passenger lists, postcards and menus, all of which help us to savour the challenges, etiquette and luxury of ocean liner travel. Diaries, letters and journals written on board also reveal a host of behind-the-scenes secrets and fascinating insights into the experience of travelling by sea. This book dives into a vast, unique collection to reveal the scandals, glamour, challenges and tragedies of ocean liner travel.

Just hours after World War II was declared, Germany struck its first blow, firing without warning on the passenger liner Athenia. The British ship was loaded with Americans, Canadians, and Europeans attempting to cross the Atlantic before the outbreak of war. As the ship sank, 1,306 were rescued but 112 people were lost, including thirty Americans. This account of the disaster, based on new research, tells a dramatic story of tragedy and triumph, as historian Francis Carroll chronicles the survivors' experiences and explains how the incident shaped policy in the U.S., UK, and Canada. For Britain, it was seen as a violation of international law and convoys were sent to protect shipping. In Canada, Athenia's sinking rallied support to go to war. In the United States, it exposed Germany as a serious threat and changed public opinion enough to allow the country to sell munitions and supplies to Britain and France.