Review by Felix Bustelo

I can think of few people who can better write about the pride of the French Line than Frank O. Braynard, a well-respected and almost legendary authority on ocean liners. This soft cover 144 page book, one of several volumes on liners published by Dover, chronicles Normandie's life from her keel laying, through her short but grand career on the transatlantic run, to the careless fire that destroyed her and her final salvage and scrapping. This visual history is accomplished through 190 wonderful photos and illustrations; each annotated with extensive captions. This format easily guides the reader through the career of this unique ship and also provides a glimpse into a different time.

For the modeler, a substantial portion of the 190 photos provides excellent views of the ship from numerous angles and perspectives. Many of the photos show good details, which are always helpful to modelers. These photos dramatically depict what a truly innovative ship the 1,029 foot Normandie was, with her clipper bow, whaleback foredeck and the sweeping wave break. A lot of these elements, revolutionary in the 1930's, are commonplace in today's liners and cruise ships - a testament to Vladimir Yourkevitch's vision when he designed the Normandie. Cunard actually rejected Yourkevitch's ideas as too radical for their new ship, known only as Hull 534 at that time. Hull 534 eventually became the R.M.S. Queen Mary.

This book also provides a view into an aspect that we as ship modelers tend to overlook - the incredible interiors of the Normandie in all her Art Deco glory. The public rooms, especially those of the first class sections, were as innovative and daring as her exteriors and they perfectly complimented each other. There is no place, which demonstrates this marriage better than the first class dining room. The Normandie's first two funnels (the third was a dummy stack) had their uptakes split along each side of the ship and joined at the stacks. This design allowed for vast expanses of uninterrupted space for public rooms. This was taken full advantage of for the first class dining room, which measured an incredible 305 feet long, 46 feet wide and was three decks tall! To fully appreciate the interiors of this liner, a cut-away diagram from a promotional brochure is blown-up and reproduced across three pages in the center of the book.

The powerful effect of these photos, which are awe inspiring when giving you a tour of the ship at the peak of her career, convey the magnitude of the destruction of the fire that consumed her at Pier 88 in New York City on February 9, 1942. While she was being converted into a troopship (U.S.S. Lafayette), a spark from a blowtorch set fire to a pile of highly flammable kapok filled life preservers that were negligently stored nearby. The first quick spread to other bundles of life preservers and the fire was soon out of control. Photos dramatically document the flawed efforts of local fire fighting and Coast Guard forces, which pumped so much water into the Normandie that she capsized at the pier. Additional pictures show the salvage efforts and ultimate scrapping of the ship. I must say that this section of the book was truly depressing.

This visual documentary of this grand liner is a must for any one wishing to build the forthcoming 1/600 scale resin model of the Normandie from Ocean Liner Models. If you are interested in ocean liners, this volume will be a welcome addition to your library.