"My favorite read of the year..."—Keegan-Michael Key, Top Ten Picks, New York Times A dazzling, inventive literary adventure story in which Captain Ahab confronts Captain Nemo and the dark cultural stories represented by both characters are revealed in cliffhanger fashion. A sprawling adventure pitting two of literature's most iconic anti-heroes against each other: Captain Nemo and Captain Ahab. Caught between them: real-life British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, builder of the century's greatest ship, The Great Eastern. But when he's kidnapped by Nemo to help design a submarine with which to fight the laying of the Translatlantic cable - linking the two colonialist forces Nemo hates, England and the US - Brunel finds himself going up against his own ship, and the strange man hired to protect it, Captain Ahab, in a battle for the soul of the 19th century.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel created a number of quite revolutionary steamships - the Great Western which was the first practical transatlantic paddle-steamer; the Great Britain, the first iron-built screw-driven liner; and the monster Great Eastern which remained the largest ship in the world for almost half a century. Besides these well-known wonders of the maritime world, Brunel also worked with the Admiralty on the introduction of the screw propeller into naval service.

The S.S. United States book is the first comprehensive work on the vessel in decades. This volume includes many rarely seen photographs from the liner's golden years to her forlorn and lonely twilight years. Follow Frank Braynard, the nation's leading maritime historian, and Robert Hudson Westover as they chronicle the life of the S.S. United States. The United States, which still holds the West-bound speed record on the North Atlantic, is the greatest ocean liner this country has ever built, and this book stands as a fitting tribute and celebration of her maiden voyage.The Big Ship: The Story of the S.S. United States is the fascinating behind-the scenes story of one of the fastest ships in the world and one of the most luxurious passenger liners to cross the Atlantic. With new introductory material by the SS United States Conservancy, this classic volume includes photographs of celebrity passengers and of the majestic liner from her golden years, when she spurred the rebirth of America’s maritime glory, to her twilight years. Follow Frank Braynard, one of the great American maritime historians, as he chronicles the life of the S.S. United States, the incredible feat of engineering that still holds the westbound speed record on the North Atlantic. This book stands as a tribute of her maiden voyage, a celebration of her recent rescue efforts by the Conservancy, and an inspiration for future generations to restore the legacy of the greatest ocean liner this country has ever built.

The story of Brunel's most famous ship and the people who knew her, using new archive sources

This stylishly designed book tells the fascinating story of the greatness and glamour of the ocean liner. For the first time in paperback, the history of these vessels is recounted with full exploration into their design, construction and development, along with a social history of those who worked and travelled on them. The well-known perennial favourites such as Mauretania, Olympic, Titanic, Bremen, Europa and the Cunard Queens are looked at in a fresh light in the context of emerging and changing lifestyles. The book also offers detailed information on some of the lesser known but significant ships such as l'Atlantique, Empress of Britain and Cap Arcona. The story is brought full circle with a discussion of the liner's increasing influence on cruise ship design and the Queen Mary 2, which initiated a new liner era for the twenty-first century.