The Unseen Mauretania (1907): The Ship in Rare Illustrations

Despite being one of the most well-known ships of the 20th century, the lack of a serious reference book dedicated to the Mauretania has always surprised me. This book rectifies that problem. Although this book is advertised as a photographic history, J. Kent Layton provides an in-depth look at the ship from design and inception to scrapping. Far from being a coffee table book, this a pretty substantial history which covers the many ups and downs of her 28-year career, from records won and lost, fires, storms, and collisions, to the Gilded Age and the Great Depression.The photographs, of course, are the highlight of this book. There are more than 250, most of which are of excellent quality, and rich with little details. These range from photographs of the ship fitting out, in harbor, and at sea, candid photos taken by passengers, images of her interiors, programs for shipboard events, and a number of period postcards and posters. Many came from private collections, and are shown here for the first time. The captions are quite informative, and worth reading by themselves. Some photographs a little out of focus, or of poor quality, but nonetheless have some historic value.The Mauretania, for me at least, remains THE iconic British liner of the 1900s, and this book is a fine tribute. If I have one issue, it's that there are only a couple pictures of the ship under construction. I'm a bit of a naval architecture geek, and I love seeing shots of shipyards "in action." That aside, this deserves to be on the shelf of any serious ocean liner buff.

A very good book. I loved it. Many fine photos including those of other great ships which is always welcome. The text was well written and not too much of it to be a problem. The cover opens to a grand adventure.

A superb biography of possibly the greatest Atlantic liner of all time. Coupled with brilliant photographs as always providing very possibly the best Mauretainia lifetime history's yet written.

Excellent book. I have learned many things I did not know about the RMS Mauretania.

Lovely book and great pictures

Fine companion to Eric Sauder's "Unseen Lusitania" of similar size and quality, as the two sister ships were.The details are plentiful and of interest to ocean liner buffs. A few photos of the Mauretania's auction of fittingsbefore scrapping [there were none] would have been welcome.

Great book on the Mauretania! Worth the investment!

The book was left out in the rain and is ruined bloody fantastic

Not someone who collects a library but I sense this book is one of the top volumes on the subject - the author manages to portray what made this ship a particular favourite with all who travelled or served in her

Not bad but overpriced for the quality

i found book very interesting

nice.

Superb book with not only an informative text, but great photographs. Highly recommended...........

Cunard's mighty Royal Mail Steamer Mauretania sails again in this wonderful volume by noted maritime author J. Kent Layton. Covering her construction to that final sad departure for the breakers yards (without covering her demolition photographically keeping her grandeur intact) Kent has presented a truly wonderful book that is packed with many rare and previously unpublished period photographs, postcards and other photographic ephemera. Keeping in line with the other "unseen" series, this book fits perfectly with the other volumes on the great liners. Included within this volume is a colour section showing many interior views from period journals, postcards and tinted images from that era. With detailed captions to the images and Kent bringing her career to life in words, THE UNSEEN MAURETANIA 1907 has to be part of any shipping enthusiasts collection (I am very proud to have contributed my personal collection of photographic material for this volume)

there were pen marks inside