They were the legends of the North Atlantic... the largest moving objects in the world... born of a tranquil era, their lives turned out very different than had been originally planned. Three sets of three ocean liners - a trio of trios - were conceived during the Edwardian era. Cunard's Lusitania, Mauretania and Aquitania, the White Star Line's Olympic, Titanic and Britannic, and the Hamburg-Amerika Line's Imperator (later Cunard's Berengaria), Vaterland (later the U.S. Line's Leviathan) and Bismarck (later White Star's Majestic). This is their story ...
One hundred years after the sinking of the Titanic, see her story laid out in full context. The story of the legendary lost liner, her two sisters Olympic and Britannic, and of the ships the White Star trio was meant to compete with ... all are laid out in their entirety.
Amberley Books
A4 Hardcover with dust jacket
440 pages + color section
Hundreds of rare and / or previously unpublished photographs and illustrations
Introduction by Mark Chirnside
One hundred years after the maiden voyage and sinking of the Titanic, this volume places her history in its proper context. The entire history of the Titanic is laid out in this volume. However, she is seen as one entity in amongst nine - all of whose stories were intertwined and affected each other. The histories of Titanic's two sisters are told in their entirety, as are the histories of their primary competitors, Cunard's Lusitania, Mauretania and Aquitania as well as their German rivals, originally named Imperator, Vaterland and Bismarck. With the sinking of the Titanic and the onset of the Great War, however, their histories were irrevocably altered from that originally intended.
Book Features:
Although this book will follow a similar structure to the 2005 and 2009 self-published books named Atlantic Liners: A Trio of Trios, it has been significantly revised, updating errors which had crept into the previous versions, and expanding on their contents. The volume is packed with little-known or previously unpublished accounts and details. Thorough research has shown that a number of dearly-held "truths" about maritime history were little more than oft-repeated legends. Each chapter is thoroughly referenced with endnotes (literally hundreds of them, in total) which cite original source material; in some cases, the endnotes provide extensive background information on certain point without needlessly cluttering up the primary text.
I was very fortunate, within the last few years, to have made the friendly acquaintance of many of the most authoritative researchers on the great liners. I have thus been able to utilize their input and suggestions in making the text of the entire volume, particularly the Titanic chapter, as balanced and well thought-out as it could possibly be. (For those of you who are eagerly anticipating On A Sea of Glass: The Life & Loss of the RMS Titanic, you will definitely want to pick up The Edwardian Superliners for a preview of some of what will be included in that volume regarding the Titanic.) There were occasions when oft-debated topics were touched on, and the pros and cons of each side were thoroughly investigated and researched in order to see what conclusions were best supported by cold, hard facts. Where conclusions were open to interpretation, I have tried my best – through footnotes and endnotes – to present the whole picture, or to give evidence as to why one conclusion was chosen over another.
The photographs in this book can be called nothing short of "breathtaking." We carefully went through and selected 746 black and white photographs and illustrations, as well as an additional 77 color photographs and illustrations. That means that there are well over 800 photos and illustrations, many of them rare or previously unpublished - not even in the prior releases of Atlantic Liners. This attention to the photographic record has made for a fascinating balance between a "good read" and "visual interest."
Availability:
The Edwardian Superliners: A Trio of Trios is currently complete and with the publisher. Currently we are simply awaiting the green light to go to press, and will release news on developments as we receive them.
The book will be published in the United Kingdom; as such, it will take up to two months for it to arrive at American retail sites and bookstores. We are thus making special arrangements with the publisher to order our stock for TMB Studios within days of printing, and well in advance of availability outside the UK. We wholeheartedly recommend that those interested in acquiring this volume place your pre-order with us through TMB Studios in advance, as this will allow us to determine appropriate stock levels and will avoid any delays in fulfillment for our customers. We are currently accepting pre-orders, and these will be fulfilled upon our receipt of stock from the publisher.
Placing your order with us now will mean that you do not have to wait for retailers, such as Amazon, to receive their stock; it will also preclude the need for you to pay exorbitant international shipping rates to get a copy from overseas retailers.
Signed & Numbered Copies. I am making copies available in a signed and numbered limited-edition release. As this is a completely new 1st Edition book, and not just a new edition of the old book, the numbers will start at “1,” and will be limited to 500. There will be no availability of this signed and numbered special edition except directly through the author. Please place your pre-order for this now to help avoid delays in
Maritime researcher and author Mark Chirnside has kindly penned an introduction for the book, which helps to “set the stage” for the rest of the volume very nicely. At this time, I have to take a minute to thank everyone who has lent a hand on the project (they know who they are)... their assistance has proved invaluable in producing an exciting text packed with valuable information and plenty of photographs.
Previews of The Edwardian Superliners: A Trio of Trios
(Click thumbnail to enlarge)