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Picture History of the Cunard Line, 1840 - 1990
by Frank O. Braynard & William H. Miller, Dover Publications Inc.,
Mineola, New York, USA, 1995
Review by Ian Wilkins
This is a Quarto sized, soft cover volume of 133 pages absolutely jammed with black and white photos of Cunard
ships and ship interiors. All of the text is included within extended captions to each of the pictures. The book follows
the development of the Cunard fleet in a chronological fashion starting with the earliest vessels and concluding with
the Queen Elizabeth 2. The photos included are fabulous each being selected to give the best and clearest
representation possible of each vessel. While most vessels get a single picture and extended caption some, more
famous vessels get greater coverage. Vessels such as Mauretania, Aquitania., Berengaria, and the intermediate
single stacker California, all receive this treatment often with the inclusion of interior and exterior detail views. The
Queens get a very large chapter all of their own with many detail photos and profile views covering all eras of their
careers.
I was impressed at the size of Cunard’s operations during the first part of this century and I particularly enjoyed
special chapters on the Cunard intermediates of the twenties, and the section on the early vessels. This book is
an excellent introduction to this line’s history and vessels, and the many photos will have the reader happily
dreaming of a fleet of their own.
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