Floating Palaces: The Great Atlantic Liners

by William H. Miller Jr.

From the mid-1890s a race was on between the merchant navies of the recently unified Germany, Britain and France. That race was to make the most luxurious and fastest ocean liners, starting with the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse. The large vessels that followed each tried to outdo the previous one in terms of size and interior design. Using many famous interior designers, every part of the new ships was designed , from the cutlery and china to the bedrooms to the boat decks. Through Kronprinzessin Cecilie, Mauretania, Aquitania, Olympic, Titanic, Imperator, Vaterland, Ile de France, and Paris, the development and design of the ships grew grander and more luxurious. The process continued into the 1930s, with the Empress of Britain and the fabulously Art Deco Normandie, the finest and most expensive liner ever built, and the Queen Mary, a rather more traditional vessel, but one, nonetheless, which pushed the boundaries of design away from the traditional country house look of the Edwardian era. Each new vessel brought with it the finest of interiors and even today, the influence of these floating palaces can still be seen in vessels such as Cunard s Queen Mary 2 and the multitude of new cruise vessels, all vying for the public s interest and affection. The large liners were truly floating palaces, and here, William H. Miller brings together a collection of fabulous images of the finest ships ever built, showcasing the style and elegance of a time when getting there was half the fun .

128 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 19, 2011

About the author

William Henry Miller, Jr. (Bill Miller) (born May 3, 1948) is a maritime author and historian who has written numerous books dealing with the golden age of ocean liners.

William H. Miller was born in Hoboken, New Jersey on May 3, 1948. In addition to his teaching career and writing over 80 books and many articles on the great liners, he was chairman of the World Ship Society's Port of New York Branch from 1970 to 1976. He was deputy director of the New York Harbor Festival Foundation from 1979 to 1982. He was historian at the Museum of the American Merchant Marine in 1979 and creator of a course entitled "The Ocean Liner" at the New School of Social Research in Manhattan in 1981. He also created the passenger ship database for the Ellis Island Museum. He appeared in the documentary SS United States: Lady in Waiting. A documentary about his life and studies, Mr. Ocean Liner, premiered aboard RMS Queen Mary 2 on July 1, 2010.

Reviews

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, beautifully illustrated book about the fabulous transatlantic liners, from the late nineteenth century to the modern Queen Mary 2 .

The majority of the book is a carefully chosen collection of images - photographs, posters, mementos - that evoke the glory days of the liners, but also the sad consequences of the Depression when many ships were broken up. These are linked by short chapters detailing the history of the liners. There are some facts and figures, passenger numbers, tonnage and the like, but also plenty of description of life on board and the history of the shipping lines. I was interested to learn, for example, that Cunard named its ships after Roman geographic locations, hence Lusitania and Mauretania .

This would be of interest to anyone who has a liking for early twentieth century history, maritime history or just the glamour of the age - and the images are wonderful.