A Century of Sea Travel: Personal Accounts from the Steamship Era

This book is a voyage through the life of the passenger steamship, a voyage described by travelers who sailed on these vessels, and it carries within it their thoughts and experiences, mirrored here in words and pictures. The pictures are memories of ships and places in times gone by, glimpses of steamship travel through the years. In memoirs and letters home, diaries and journals the writers recorded every aspect of their seagoing experiences: they wrote of their ship, its crew and their fellow passengers, of the food and entertainment on board, of romance, accidents and disasters, and of being dreadfully sick. They noted incidents on board that amused or angered them, described the ports at which their ship called, and the fear and excitement of storms at sea. The writers were emigrants or colonial rulers, men of letters, young men seeking their fortune, wives on their way to new homes abroad; some were rich, many were poor and escaping the hardship of downtrodden lives; all had in common the experience of voyaging at sea. The author has woven their words into a narrative that describes so evocatively a world that has now disappeared, and with the huge range of illustrations brings back to life the golden age of the steamship. Beautifully designed and printed, this book will delight armchair travelers, ship enthusiasts and all those who still go to sea to seek romance and adventure.