Picture History of the Andrea Doria

by William H. Miller Jr.

Scores of rare photographs recall one of the most graceful, fast, and luxuriously outfitted ships of the 20th century. Views of lounges and staterooms, shots of the ship in port, depictions of its glorious twin, the Cristoforo Colombo, and other fleet mates are accompanied by extensive captions. 183 black-and-white photographs.

128 pages, Paperback

First published March 11, 2005

About the author

William Henry Miller, Jr. (Bill Miller) (born May 3, 1948) is a maritime author and historian who has written numerous books dealing with the golden age of ocean liners.

William H. Miller was born in Hoboken, New Jersey on May 3, 1948. In addition to his teaching career and writing over 80 books and many articles on the great liners, he was chairman of the World Ship Society's Port of New York Branch from 1970 to 1976. He was deputy director of the New York Harbor Festival Foundation from 1979 to 1982. He was historian at the Museum of the American Merchant Marine in 1979 and creator of a course entitled "The Ocean Liner" at the New School of Social Research in Manhattan in 1981. He also created the passenger ship database for the Ellis Island Museum. He appeared in the documentary SS United States: Lady in Waiting. A documentary about his life and studies, Mr. Ocean Liner, premiered aboard RMS Queen Mary 2 on July 1, 2010.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been a huge fan of William H. Miller Jr.'s books for many years and own several dozen of his "Picture History" ocean liner books. Still, I will do my best to give a balanced review of Picture History of the Andrea Doria. Although it was published in 2005, I realized only recently that this volume was not in my collection, so that was rectified very easily. It is definitely a fantastic addition to my library.

My favorite aspects of the book were, of course, its photographs, but also the historical text that accompanied them. Over the years, the depth of Mr. Miller's descriptions have increased and provide a lot of detail for ocean liner buffs. Among these is the way the ship fits into the history of its nation's passenger vessels in terms of interior design, engineering, purpose, and other factors.

While ocean liner fans will likely find this analysis intriguing, I doubt the same can be said for those who want to learn about one particular ship. Of the 183 photographs in the book, fewer than 70 are of Andrea Doria. And, just two of the seven chapters are devoted to the Doria. The remainder of the book covers the early and late years of the Italian Line, the Doria's sister ship Cristoforo Colombo, notable ships of other Italian companies, and the resurgence of Genoa as a shipbuilding site. In this respect, there are some overlaps with the author's The Picture History of the Italian Line, 1932-1977, published 1999.

Even so, the chapters on Doria can stand on their own for those interested, but purchasers should be aware that Doria is often put in the context of other ships.