by Frank Braynard.
In the annals of shipping where luxury, safety and reliability have come to be the accepted norm of ocean travel, Cunard has often been the yardstick by which all other shipping companies on the highly competitive North Atlantic run have been measured. When Samuel Cunard realised his ambition of creating the first regular passenger and mail steamship service (which has also become the last to cross the Atlantic), to the present day luxurious cruise ships, a host of vessels have been the tools by which the company achieved its prosperity and fame.
From the early steamers to innovative ships that introduced among other things, electric lights to ocean travel, the changing fleet of Cunard has always attracted attention and worldwide acclaim, many of which have commanded fierce loyalty and on their passing, national mourning. The great liners were an everyday spectacle and sighting a ship never ceased to thrill, especially at night when every porthole was lit that reflected on the ship’s black, oily wash. The funnels, lit up in the darkness were especially magnificent, a bright, glowing red from which issued pale gray plumes of smoke illuminated from underneath by the glow of ship’s lights.
This book is a fine album of wonderful photographs and will surely add another sequin to the dazzling history that is Cunard’s; an excellent pictorial with text of the famous shipping line.
133 pages. Softback.
