A magnificent tribute to the illustrious and ill-fated steamship. Normandiewas unquestionably the most beautiful ocean liner ever built. The world's largest at the time, she also became the world's fastest. Her art deco interiors were unrivaled: capacious, elegant, and chic, decorated by teams of France's most talented artists. YetNormandiewas plagued with frustrations-never attracting more passengers than the competition and tragically ending her days in flames at New York's Pier 88. Celebrated maritime historian John Maxtone-Graham confesses to a hypnotic fascination withNormandie. In this comprehensive volume, enriched by over 200 photographs and illustrations, he documents every aspect of the vessel's decorative antecedents, design, construction, and service. Always articulate, entertaining, and devastatingly well informed, Maxtone-Graham has created the definitiveNormandiepanegyric, a comprehensive and, at times, heartbreaking account of this fabled liner. 30 color and 175 black-and-white illustrations.

Learn the full story behind the most decoratively striking of all the great Atlantic liners, the SS Normandie A creation of the extravagant 1930s, the Normandie was the pride of the great French Line, the national flagship, and a ship well ahead of almost all other passenger ships of her time. She was the largest, longest, and fastest, but also the most decoratively stunning and had the most striking and innovative overall design. Her dining room was longer than the famed Hall of Mirrors at Versailles and her outer decks were uncluttered, superbly balanced, and streamlined. Her career was, however, highly dramatic and quite tragic in the end. She sailed commercially for just four years, and then was laid up in New York due to the start of World War II; she suffered the fate of burning at her pier, capsizing, and becoming a complete loss. In 1946, to the great sadness of her endless fans, the 11-year-old ship went to the breakers. This book, through added insight and anecdotes by experts with many superb, unpublished photos, greatly adds to the story of this finest of French liners.

Au coeur de la Normandie, dans les villages perdus et paisibles, les habitants vivent parfois des histoires uniques, insolites, mais pourtant bien reelles. Decouvrez la rouerie des Normands, leur facetie, mais aussi leur avarice. Plongez sans retenue dans ce recueil chaleureux et drole d'histoires vraies et passez des moments savoureux en compagnie des Normands."