Having so thoroughly enjoyed his history of the great liners; The Sway of the Grand Saloon (http://www.librarything.com/work/461456) I knew I would enjoy this “coffee table’ book of photographs. And what photographs they are!

Some of the narrative is new and relevant, but there is little to add to the pictures that adds to their enjoyment. Just to gaze at these elegant queens of the sea is to become envious and nostalgic.

A wonderful addition to any collection on ships, the Atlantic or history.

This might make some folks a bit miffed but, I hate this book. Not because of the photos (which, for the most part are great) but because of its seemingly endless errors. It's unimaginable that such a respected author could have put out such tripe. A photo of Berengaria captioned as Ile de France; a photo of the launching of Lafayette captioned as Ile de France; a photo of the second Mauretania captioned as Queen Elizabeth: I could go on and on.

Another annoying thing is how he harps on the fact that many of the photos contain models. He mentions it over and over again.

But the worst is his smuggness against anything that's not British; especially if it was German. And he did this in every one of his liner books.

Some may say I'm wrong but, sorry, I'm not a fan of his work. ( )