A detailed and evocative catalogue of passenger ships over 10,000 tons from Titanic to the QE2. Archive Photos of each of these classic ships are included with the page-long descriptions of the ship, as well as measurements and historical info, including the dramatic life (and often tragic death) of many of these wondrous vessels of the past 100 years. Readers may find themselves longing for a time machine so that they could actually walk the wonderous decks of the beautiful, but ill-fated Normandy, or sample the atmosphere of the heroic Aquitania, or the exquisite cuisine and ambience of the Ile De France (The Andrea Doria's rescue ship). Even the more obscure ships become objects of fascination and wonder. Hauntingly, even the Dana Regina is included (a year or two after this book's publishing, the DR, renamed the Estonia, sank in the mid-1990's with a loss of over 800 lives when it's bow door came loose in a horrific winter storm). This is the kind of book you leave on your coffee table and keep reaching for again and again. While the text could use some occasional editing for a few grammatical rough spots, the effect of the book as a whole is undiminished. If you weren't already interested in the classic liners, this book just might get you started.