Lusitania An Illustrated Biography Volume One

Before Titanic, there was Lusitania... This unprecedented two-volume set will bring Lusitania's history to life as never before

Prepare to take a journey back in time⦠step aboard the decks of one of the worldâÂÂs largest, fastest, and most beloved ocean liners, and experience the LUSITANIA in all her splendor.

A sumptuously illustrated history of the Titanic, her sinking and its aftermath.

Since the end of the nineteenth century there has been a stunning succession of transatlantic liners, from the White Star Line's Oceanic of 1899 to the Cunard Line's Queen Mary 2 of 2004. These floating palaces often contained luxurious staterooms, ballrooms and lounges for the rich, and noticeably more modest and basic accommodation for poorer travellers. Their designs and powerplants were often cutting-edge as each competed to be the largest, most luxurious and fastest ship on the Atlantic. As the tides of passenger demand rose and fell through the years and the world plunged twice into global conflict, these ships had to adapt to survive. Many of these vessels – including Mauretania, Olympic, the first Queen Mary and France – had long and glorious careers; others – Titanic, Lusitania and Normandie among them – suffered tragic endings. J. Kent Layton describes the heyday of the superliners and explains what life was like for passengers, both rich and poor.

Bringing the world of Titanic and her sisters back to life as never before through the captivating original artwork of talented artists

They formed three trios of wonder ships. From the Cunard Line came the Lusitania, Mauretania, and Aquitania. From the White Star Line came the Olympic, the infamous Titanic, and the Britannic. From the Hamburg-Amerika Line came the Imperator, Vaterland and Bismarck, which would later find service as Cunard's Berengaria, the U.S. Line's Leviathan, and White Star's Majestic. They were, in turn, the fastest, most powerful, largest and most luxurious ocean liners that had ever sailed that ocean. Some would find great success; others would suffer disaster. Their careers would be affected by natural elements, by mismanagement, and by the brutalities of war. Their fates were also inextricably intertwined. The all-new 2009 Version of "Atlantic Liners" boasts over 730 photos, as well as nearly a dozen general arrangement plans of the ships. An Introduction has been penned by Mark Chirnside.

Laid down and constructed for the German Hamburg Amerika Line, Majestic was ceded to Britain's White Star line to replace the Britannic, a sister ship of Titanic sunk during the war. At 56,000 tons she was the world's largest ship until the Normandie was built. With sumptuous interiors, luxurious restaurants and public rooms, she plied her trade until 1936 when she was destined to be sold for scrap. Rescued and converted into a training ship for naval cadets, she sailed for Rosyth as HMS Caledonia. Here she survived in a static role until 1940 when she was burned out. She spent most of her life on the Southampton-New York run but cruised to Canada and on short cruises from Southampton too. Mark Chirnside's previous two works, on the Olympic-Class ships, have become the definitive works on these white star vessels and have earned him two 'Books of the Month' from Ships Monthly.

"Lusitania: She was a ship of dreams, carrying millionaires and aristocrats, actresses and impresarios, writers and suffragettes - a microcosm of the last years of the waning Edwardian Era and the coming influences of the Twentieth Century. When she left New York on her final voyage, she sailed from the New World to the Old; yet an encounter with the machinery of the New World, in the form of a primitive German U-Boat, sent her - and her gilded passengers - to their tragic deaths and opened up a new era of indiscriminate warfare. A hundred years after her sinking, Lusitania remains an evocative ship of mystery. Was she carrying munitions that exploded? Did Winston Churchill engineer a conspiracy that doomed the liner? Lost amid these tangled skeins is the romantic, vibrant, and finally heartrending tale of the passengers who sailed aboard her. Lives, relationships, and marriages ended in the icy waters off the Irish Sea; those who survived were left haunted and plagued with guilt. Now, authors Greg King and Penny Wilson resurrect this lost, glittering world to show the golden age of travel and illuminate the most prominent of Lusitania's passengers. Rarely was an era so glamorous; rarely was a ship so magnificent; and rarely was the human element of tragedy so quickly lost to diplomatic maneuvers and militaristic threats"--

At a young age, Alfred Vanderbilt inherited a massive fortune of $40 million and control of the Vanderbilt railroading empire. With no interest in business matters, the youth squandered his wealth on horses and women on two continents. None of the Vanderbilts gave as much fuel for gossip to the curious public as Alfred. By the time the extravagant playboy boarded the Lusitania on May 7, 1915, he was the subject of numerous scandals, including the suicide of four different women. But as the ship went down, he spent the last minutes of his life rescuing women and children and forgoing his own life. How is it that this wraith, this gluttonous, opulent youth, could undergo an entire change of character in his last few moments? Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt follows Alfred’s journey from philanderer to hero in this incredible, never-before-told story of the hero of the Lusitania.