Once Britain's largest shipping line, BISNC's trade declined as aircraft took over from troopships. The author takes us through the transition from troopship to cruise ship.

Bill Miller looks back nostalgically at the P&O and Orient Line vessels of the 1950s and 1960s.

This fascinating text-and-picture tribute documents both interiors and exteriors of majestic British ships such as the Viceroy of India, the Orion, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, Windsor Castle, Pacific Princess, Royal Princess, Crown Princess, and Aurora. Over 200 rare black-and-white illustrations provide views of the ships at sea and in port.

The British maritime historian explores the golden age of cargo liners and the routes they took around the world in this beautifully illustrated volume. From 1850 to 1950, the cargo liner grew to dominate the world’s trade routes, providing regular services that merchants, shippers and importers could rely on. They carried much of the world’s high-value goods and their services spread to most corners of the world. They were the tool of the world’s first phase of globalization. Illustrated with more than 300 photographs, Cargo Liners tells the story of these majestic ships, beginning with the establishment of routes around Europe and across the North Atlantic in the 1850s. When marine engineer Alfred Holt developed high-pressure compound engines, vessels began to steam further afield, reaching ports in the Far East and Australia. Then the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 cemented the dominance of the cargo liner. Only with the appearance of the first container ship in the 1950s was that dominance finally overthrown.

The story of the Hampshire port from Roman times to the present day, illustrated by a fascinating collection of images showing everything from seaman's strikes to shipwrecks, the Titanic and Queen Mary, as well as the other famous ocean liners that have called at the port since the 1840s.

During the nineteenth century Britain’s maritime, commercial and colonial interests all depended upon a regular and reliable flow of seaborne information from around the globe. Whilst the telegraph increasingly came to dominate long-distance communication, postal services by sea played a vital role in the network of information exchange, particularly to the more distant locations. Much importance was placed upon these services by the British government which provided large subsidies to a small number of commercial companies to operate them. Concentrating initially on the mail service between Britain and South America, this book explores the economic and political involvement of, at the outset, The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company (later, Royal Mail Lines) from 1851 until 1874. (The Company’s West Indies services were subsidized from 1840 until the early years of the 20th century.) As well as providing a business history of the Royal Mail companies the book reveals much of the development of Brazil and Argentina as trading nations and the many and varied consequences of maintaining a long-distance mail service. Improved ship design led to larger vessels of greater cargo capacities, essential to the growth of the lucrative, and highly competitive, import/export trades between Britain and Europe and South America. The provision of increased passenger services contributed to the very considerable British financial, commercial and industrial interests in Latin America well into the 20th century. The book also addresses the international competition faced by Royal Mail Lines which reflected Britain’s progressively diminishing dominance of global trade and shipping. In all this book has much to say that will interest not only business historians but all those seeking a better understating of Britain’s maritime and economic history.