Book Description
This evocative and nostalgic book, now available for the first time as a paperback, celebrates the golden age of sea travel. Once the world's largest and fastest ocean liner, today the Queen Mary represents a peak of perfection in the art of shipbuilding. With her sleek, sophisticated lines, Art Deco interiors and exquisite detailing, she encapsulates the spirit of an era characterized by elegance and style. On her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in 1936, this great new liner provided a tangible symbol of the end of the Depression, and became a source of great national pride. Beautifully illustrated with specially commissioned colour photographs and much unpublished archive material, this book captures the atmosphere of the Queen Mary's glory days, and presents a comprehensive record of this magnificent and unique floating example of the streamlined style.

Synopsis
This text tells the story of the "Queen Mary", once the world's largest and fastest ocean liner. Put into service in 1936, she soon captured the imagination of the public on both sides of the Atlantic, and came to represent the spirit of an era that was characterized by elegance and style. With her speed and stateliness, the new liner provided a tangible symbol of the end of the Depression, making her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York a source of great national pride. Her Art Deco interiors were renowned for their craftsmanship and attention to detail, with everything from carpets to doorknobs specially designed by the best artists and craftsmen of the period. Contemporary with New York's finest Deco hotels and office blocks, such as the Chrysler Building, the "Queen Mary" provides a floating example of the streamlined style. During World War II, the luxury liner went on to perform service as a troop carrier, where her quickness allowed her to elude the U-boat captains intent on collecting the bounty that Hitler offered for her destruction, and earned the ship the title of "the Grey Ghost".

Weighing over 81,000 tons and spanning over 1000 feet in length, the "Queen Mary's" might and power remained equally impressive in times of war and peace.