The Cunard-White Star Line's Queen Elizabeth was the largest ship in the World and one of the fastest and most luxurious. In the post-War years, she maintained, with her equally famous running-mate Queen Mary, the most successful transatlantic passenger service there has ever been. But before that, she had already had a gallant wartime career. Completed on the Clyde in 1940, she had secretly sped to safety across the Atlantic before embarking on a long series of dangerous high-speed voyages, crowded with many thousands of troops. It was widely recognised that the two Cunarders had together played a vital role in the Allies' eventual victory.

This authoritatively written and lavishly illustrated history tells the story not only of the Queen Elizabeth's wartime exploits and her transatlantic heyday but also of her losing battle against the new jet airliners, her surprisingly successful foray into the cruise market, her sad and disreputable spell as a static attraction in Florida and - just as she seemed at last to be destined for new success - her tragic destruction by fire in Hong Kong harbour. This is a worthy memorial to one of the World's greatest liners. Hardback.

212 x 272 mm.Laminated anti-tear dustjacket with a full-colour reproduction of a painting by Don Stoltenberg.208 pages. fold-out plan. 108 black & white illustrations and 70 in colour.