The Unseen Mauretania 1907

Book excerpt: Showcasing photographs and illustrations from a variety of collectors' archives, The Unseen Mauretania 1907 reveals the Cunard company's most luxurious ocean liner of the early twentieth century. When the Mauretania took to the North Atlantic for the first time in November 1907, she was the largest and fastest ship in the world, serving with her sister ship, the Lusitania, for nearly eight years. Although the Lusitania's life was cut short during the First World War, the Mauretania continued to have an impressive presence at sea, holding the Blue Riband for the fastest transatlantic crossing until 1929. This evocative visual history, now available in paperback, by maritime expert J. Kent Layton follows her glorious career, which spanned four decades of the twentieth century.