Author: William Miller
Genre: Antiquarian, Rare & Collectable
Publisher: The History Press
This new series begins with British passenger ship, those great and grand vessels that connected the continents, but also those far-off, colonial outposts of the Empire. There were the great Cunarders, of course, but then also the likes of Booth Line to the exotic Amazon, Royal Mail to Rio & Buenos Aires, Union Castle to South & East Africa, British India to the likes of Bombay & Calcutta, and of course the iconic P&O to ports such as Sydney, Singapore & colonial Hong Kong. The passenger ships covered in these pages are both large and small, and also included are passenger-cargo types. Presenting many previously unpublished images alongside historic, insightful text that combines personal anecdotes of the ships and their voyages from passengers and crew alike, Bill Miller takes the reader on a nostalgic voyage - an evocative trip looking at days long past.
Review by TomEnroute
4.0 out of 5 starsMore than just trans Atlantic
9 August 2012 - Published on Amazon.com
Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase
When most Americans think of British ocean liners they naturally think of the great Queens of Cunard Line and the Titanic and perhaps her White Star Line sisters. Period!
While the north Atlantic route to New York was the most glamorous and prestigeous and usually home to the world's largest and fastest ships, it was but a small fraction of the routes that set out from Britain to its various colonies around the world. Much less information is available in the US on these ships, many of which have quite interesting histories.
Noted ocean liner lecturer and historian, Bill Miller, has added to his long list of passenger liner books with a volume that covers not only the north Atlantic greyhounds but also the many smaller, slower liners that were the lifeblood of the British Empire. Britannia ruled the waves and had the world's largest merchant fleet. The most famous line, P & O lives on today as a cruise line and ferry operator, even older than Cunard Line. But other companies like Orient Line, Union Castle, Royal Mail, Furness and Canadian Pacific are long gone from the sea lanes . Famous liners like Canberra, Oriana, Windsor Castle, Empress of Britain, the Straths, Reina del Mar, Viceroy of India rarely, if ever, called on US shores but were a vital link to Britain's far flung Empire. Others like the Queen of Bermuda were based in the USA. Carrying the mail, import and export cargoes, government officials, business travelers, tourists and colonists making the voyage home, these liners hold an important place in British history. These ships were built purely for point to point transportation, with a rigid class structure even after WWII.
As with all Bill Miller books, there are pictures galore, many I had not seen before. There is a large color section with posters and other promotional materials as well as some nautical artwork. As with almost every book on older ocean liners, I wish for more interior shots to get a better picture of life onboard, especially since many of these voyages lasted a month or more.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a better picture of worldwide transportation in the days before the jet, as this network based on Great Britain was mirrored on a smaller scale by most European nations with far flung colonies. It is a very good addition to the library of any ocean liner enthusiast or student of British colonial history.
