RMS Queen Mary. The World's Favourite Liner

Книга на английском языке
Built at the famous John Brown and Co yard on the River Clyde in Scotland, and launched in 1934, RMS Queen Mary was once one of the largest and fastest passenger liners in the world. Her launch and subsequent maiden voyage made headline news, while during her 31-year ocean-going career she broke dozens of records, made 1001 North Atlantic crossings and carried nearly a million troops during the Second World War. She was a firm favourite of royalty and the rich and famous yet carried umpteen immigrants from Europe on third-class one-way tickets to new lives in the USA.
This book describes the many facets of the ship’s rich history: from how renowned artists of the day were commissioned to produce exquisite works of art to a tragic wartime collision in the North Atlantic; from setting speed records to transporting the greatest ever number of people on a single voyage by any vessel in history; from carrying stars of the silver screen to turbulent times as a hotel and museum ship - all brought to life through dozens of first-hand interviews and illustrated with a wealth of stunning images, including rare colour photographs from the 1930s.
Here is a complete history of the ship, meticulously researched: from design and construction, through the glamour of the 1930s, the Second World War, to her post­ war reign in the North Atlantic with running-mate RMS Queen Elizabeth and her lengthy but sometimes controversial retirement, including closure initiated by the Covid-19 lockdown. Finally, there is a glimpse at what the future may hold for the world’s last remaining ‘superliner’.
The ‘golden age’ of glamorous Atlantic travel has disappeared but Queen Mary lives on at her permanent berth in Long Beach, California as an important treasure of world maritime history and a tangible link with the past.

Содержание
Foreword by Susan Tennant
Introduction by Ian Johnston
1 The Birth of Queen Mary
2 Opulence and Elegance
3 Beyond the Clyde
4 The Early Years
5 The Grey Ghost
6 A Golden Age
7 The Last Great Cruise
8 Years of Confusion
9 A Legacy to the World
Afterword
Bibliography and Further Reading
Acknowledgements
Index