The first thing to note about this book is that it is small, only the size of a paperback. The blurb on the inside of the dust jacket declares that this is one of four volumes to be published in a series, Merchant Ships of the World in Color, "a pictorial survey of the merchant ship - ocean liner, tramp steamer, freighter, tanker - and its development during the last one hundred years". The introduction is an essay about the design, appearance and use of merchant ships between 1910 and 1929, "the period covered by this book was one of particular interest and variety...various borrowings from the era of sail still showed in many of the older steamers...The advent of the First World War cut right across the hitherto steady line of evolution...born of the war were many new ideas...actual hull design, the grouping of deckhouses and superstructure, new cargo handling gear and alternative forms of propulsion." The most obvious attraction in the book is the set of 96 color plates, each one illustrating a different ship, "each has been chosen either for her own particular interest or as repesentative of a particular type or hull layout". Each illustration also includes a depiction of the house flag for the shipping line, which brings me to the less obvious, but equally worthwhile, attraction of the text! Each ship has slightly more than a page of text describing its characteristics, and outlining the history of the vessels in that class. The print is small, which is good news in such a small book - plenty of information is packed into a small space! At the back of the book there is a section of diagramatic comparisons, so you can get a better idea about the various design features described. There is also a list of ships illustrated, grouped according to nationality, and another list grouped according to type and trade. Finally, there is a list of all the ships in the book, including all those mentioned in the text.

Includes entries for maps and atlases.

For 5000 years shipping has served the world economy and today it provides a sophisticated transport service to every part of the globe. Yet despite its economic complexity, shipping retains much of the competitive cut and thrust of theperfect market of classical economics. This blend of sophisticated logistics and larger than life entrepreneurs

A cumulative list of works represented by Library of Congress printed cards.

From around 1880, for almost a hundred years, shipowners commissioned a wealth of paintings that depicted their magnificent liners as well as the routes they travelled, their exotic destinations, and life onboard. These paintings, rich in imagination and atmosphere, appeared on postcards and posters of the day and were used to advertise the companies and their ships; and so was born a whole genre that produced tens of thousands of paintings which formed a wonderful record of the great era of the passenger liner. In 1900, there were over thirty shipping companies operating passenger liners across the North Atlantic. Other oceans were similarly served. But now, with just a few exceptions, the companies and their liners have disappeared along with the art they once inspired. Little remains to recall this aspect of our maritime past except the postcards; and they tell an evocative story of the vanished world of elegant ships and leisurely travel, of social and political times much changed by the history of the past century. Here, brought vividly to life in more than 500 colourful postcards, are the ships on which so many of our predecessors sailed—as emigrants, soldiers, administrators, or simply as tourists—in days long past. These cards, which are now highly collectable, show how steamships developed over the years, but they are also a fine tribute to the artists who painted them. This volume also includes a glossary of some 170 illustrators, which forms an important reference section, and advice on collecting.

This volume deals with an era when many merchant ships reached the culmination of their development with advances in technology and changes in trading patterns of industrialized nations.