Full of previously unpublished images and insightful text, a nostalgic look back at a century of U.S. passenger ships The United States has produced some of the world's finest, most interesting, advanced, and innovative passenger ships, such as the amazing SS United States, the fastest ocean liner ever to sail the seas, ingloriously left lying in limbo for 42 years. This book also documents passenger ships seized in wartime, notably the giant German SS Vaterland, which became the Leviathan in the United States Lines, as well as many newly built passenger ships, such as Santa Rosa, Lurline, President Cleveland, Independence, and Brasil. Also included are peacetime troopships as well as "combo ships," the once very popular passenger-cargo ships. The great saga of American liners continues to this day with modern cruise ships in Hawaiian service. The cast of ships is both vast and varied, but endlessly fascinating. Presenting many unpublished images alongside historic, insightful text including personal anecdotes of the ships and voyages from passengers and crew alike, William Miller takes the reader on a nostalgic voyage and the great American passenger fleet sails once again.

The 1950s was a fascinating decade for the great liners. After the global devastation of two decades of war and Depression, shipyards were creating one new liner after another, it seemed, to rebuild and renew passenger ship services all over the world. There were the likes of the Kungsholm and Oslofjord from Scandinavia, the French Flandre and a succession of new liners from P&O-Orient, the Italian Line, Messageries Maritimes and many more. The new hopeful era of the 1950s was highlighted by such brilliant, headline-making ships as the speedy United States, breaking records on an unprecedented scale, the engines-aft Southern Cross and the mastless Orsova. Showcased beautifully by the stunning images and nostalgic outlook of prolific maritime historian William H. Miller, this book shines a well-earned spotlight on some of the world's most popular passenger liners.

Exploring the ships at sea across the most glamorous and exciting decade for the great liners The 1930s was perhaps the most glamorous and exciting decade for the great liners, highlighted by the great shipbuilding inter-nation rivalry: Germany's Bremen and Europa, Italy's Rex and Conte Di Savoia, France's Normandie, and Britain's Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. Passengers traveled on some of the most popular liners of all time, L'Atlantique, Empress of Britain, Empress of Japan, Queen of Bermuda, President Coolidge, Strathnaver and Strathaird, Orion, Capetown Castle, Oranje, Mauretania and Andes - and many more. Despite the worldwide Depression and a great shift in trading patterns, it was a wonderful era for shipbuilding and the era of Art Deco on the high seas, the age of 'floating Ginger Rogers'.

DIVMore than 100 ships documented, including Leviathan, America, Independence, President Polk, and United States. Detailed captions list tonnage, speed, size, and passenger load. Bibliography. Index. Approximately 200 photographs. /div

“A fascinating historical account…A snapshot of the American Dream culminating with this country’s mid-century greatness” (The Wall Street Journal) as a man endeavors to build the finest, fastest, most beautiful ocean liner in history. The story of a great American Builder at the peak of his power, in the 1940s and 1950s, William Francis Gibbs was considered America’s best naval architect. His quest to build the finest, fastest, most beautiful ocean liner of his time, the SS United States, was a topic of national fascination. When completed in 1952, the ship was hailed as a technological masterpiece at a time when “made in America” meant the best. Gibbs was an American original, on par with John Roebling of the Brooklyn Bridge and Frank Lloyd Wright of Fallingwater. Forced to drop out of Harvard following his family’s sudden financial ruin, he overcame debilitating shyness and lack of formal training to become the visionary creator of some of the finest ships in history. He spent forty years dreaming of the ship that became the SS United States. William Francis Gibbs was driven, relentless, and committed to excellence. He loved his ship, the idea of it, and the realization of it, and he devoted himself to making it the epitome of luxury travel during the triumphant post-World War II era. Biographer Steven Ujifusa brilliantly describes the way Gibbs worked and how his vision transformed an industry. A Man and His Ship is a tale of ingenuity and enterprise, a truly remarkable journey on land and sea.

A history of why great powers decline, from Spain to the United States The extent and irreversibility of US decline is becoming ever more obvious as America loses war after war and as one industry after another loses its technological edge. Lachmann explains why the United States will not be able to sustain its global dominance, and contrasts America's relatively brief period of hegemony with the Netherlands' similarly short primacy and Britain's far longer era of leadership. Decline in all those cases was not inevitable and did not respond to global capitalist cycles. Rather, decline is the product of elites' success in grabbing control over resources and governmental powers. Not only are ordinary people harmed, but also capitalists become increasingly unable to coordinate their interests and adopt policies and make investments necessary to counter economic and geopolitical competitors elsewhere in the world. Conflicts among elites and challenges by non-elites determine the timing and mold the contours of decline. Lachmann traces the transformation of US politics from an era of elite consensus to present-day paralysis combined with neoliberal plunder, explains the paradox of an American military with an unprecedented technological edge unable to subdue even the weakest enemies, and the consequences of finance's cannibalization of the US economy.

A richly illustrated story from the glory days of passenger travel on the Great Lakes. For decades Canada Steamship Lines proclaimed itself as the world’s largest transportation company operating on inland waters. Its passenger and freight vessels could be found on the Great Lakes as far west as Duluth, Minnesota, and as far east as the Lower St. Lawrence River. The passenger steamers were known collectively as the Great White Fleet. These ships – from day-excursion vessels to well-appointed cruise ships – had rich histories. The sheer scope of these passenger services were a wonder to behold. No fewer than 51 steamers comprised the passenger fleet at the company’s inception in 1913, and its network of routes was awesome. This is the story of the beloved steamers of the Great White Fleet from 1913–65, when the passenger vessels stopped running. Nearly half a century after the last passenger boats sailed, this book will provide a window into a wonderful lost way of life.