The Fabulous Interiors of the Great Ocean Liners in Historic Photographs

by William H. Miller Jr.

Some 200 superb photographs — in long shots and close-ups — capture exquisite interiors of world’s great "floating palaces" — 1890s to 1980s: Titanic, Île de France, Queen Elizabeth, United States, Europa, more. Informative captions provide key details.

Genres: Photography, History, Nonfiction, Architecture, Travel

289 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

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

[Debbie Robson]

Some wonderful ships. I'll be keeping this as an historical resource.

[Mallory]

I spent the better part of the year combing through this (it's not long, I just took my sweet time) and savoring the details of each picture. They are all black-and-white and one complaint is that some of them are a bit dark or poorly lit. The captions give an idea of some of the magnificent colors that were on board in these rooms. This is a great resource if searching for historical details of a time when travel was meant to be luxurious.

[Em]

At first I was disappointed/frustrated that the pictures are all black-and-white and so small, but of course black-and-white makes sense since the earliest photos are of ships from the 1800s. Oops! ;) However the pictures are still frustratingly small and it's difficult to see some of the details referred to in the text.

[Richard Jespers]

These gorgeous black-and-white photographs (I could fall into some of them and stow myself away in a lifeboat), along with an informed and lively text, portray the evolution of the cruise ship interiors from the ornate detail of the 1920s and 1930s to the pared-down spare designs of the 1960s through the 1980s. A great resource for anyone interested in this era.

[Crystal Caudill]

Lots of great pictures and informational tidbits. The earliest pictures were from the 1890s, so that was a bit disappointing. But it provided information and images needed to bring depth to my setting for my novella.

[BarbaraAllison]

Lovely book to scrutinize.

[Ann E]

Informative

Supplied the information I was looking for for my book both in text and pictures. Mainly interested in the Noordam.