Queen Mary

Rating:
Summary: Simply a "must have" for ocean liner-buffs
Review: "Queen Mary" by James Steele was everything i hoped it would be - and more. Although the author goes into detail with the ship's interiors to some extent, I think he told the "Mary"s overall story well. The book is packed with technical data and historic info all the way back to 1930, when this beautiful liner was ordered, until she was delivered in Long Beach, California, in 1967. Great photographs, too!

Rating:
Summary: Simply a "must have" for ocean liner-buffs
Review: "Queen Mary" by James Steele was everything i hoped it would be - and more. Although the author goes into detail with the ship's interiors to some extent, I think he told the "Mary"s overall story well. The book is packed with technical data and historic info all the way back to 1930, when this beautiful liner was ordered, until she was delivered in Long Beach, California, in 1967. Great photographs, too!

Rating:
Summary: loved it
Review: By far one of the best books written on the Queen Mary. The detail and research that has gone into the writing of this book is outstanding. Hats off to Mr. Steele for an excelent history of this wonderful ship. A must have for anyone intrested in the history of RMS Queen Mary.

Rating:
Summary: Splendid and unrivaled book on the Queen Mary!
Review: Coloured photo's along with a history of this ship make the book not only comprehensive, but very interesting as well. The pictures alone make this book worth its cost. Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: A must have for Queen Mary or Ocean Liner fans!
Review: First and foremost I am a die hard Queen Mary Fan.
Okay. Now I have made many trips to the Queen Mary in the past, and on my last trip I purhased this book a store onboard the ship. The guy told me that it was quote: "The best book on the Queen Mary". After reading it, I also think it is! With all the beautiful photos and artwork shown in the book, helps to give one a sense of why the 'Mary' is worth all the praise she has gotten.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Ship, Beautiful Book
Review: I literally couldn't put this book down after starting it -- Steele has written a fascinating retrospective on this great ship. The book's format is high quality and heavy on photographs, making for a very attractive book. But Steele also does a good job of exploring the ship's history, particularly the design and engineering perspectives. I agree with another reviewer that Steele could have (and probably should have) gone into greater detail on the Queen's post-retirement history as a tourist attraction, and should have addressed the structural and design modifications resulting from that transformation. But this shortcoming detracts very little from an otherwise enjoyable volume on the history of a famous and beloved ship.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Ship, Beautiful Book
Review: I literally couldn't put this book down after starting it -- Steele has written a fascinating retrospective on this great ship. The book's format is high quality and heavy on photographs, making for a very attractive book. But Steele also does a good job of exploring the ship's history, particularly the design and engineering perspectives. I agree with another reviewer that Steele could have (and probably should have) gone into greater detail on the Queen's post-retirement history as a tourist attraction, and should have addressed the structural and design modifications resulting from that transformation. But this shortcoming detracts very little from an otherwise enjoyable volume on the history of a famous and beloved ship.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding detail and history.
Review: This book is everything I had hoped for, from the history and beginning of the ship, through it's glory days. Absolutely outstanding, well research and detailed.

Rating:
Summary: The Queen Mary: 1936-1967
Review: This book is sets the standard for other books to follow in its detailed description, in text as well as photos, of the history of the Queen Mary from the years of 1936-1967, when it was retired in Long Beach, CA.

The only shortcoming of this book is that it tells little of the history of the ship after its arrival in Long Beach in 1967. Perhaps the author considers the ship to be a shell of its former self. Indeed the Queen Mary has had an exiting "life" as a tourist attraction since its last voyage in 1967.

Still, this book is a must for any fan of the Queen Mary. It is beautifully bound and the photos are priceless.

Rating:
Summary: A superlative book about the ship's construction and art.
Review: This book will captivate you. It bears reiterating how superb the photographs, art, and text are in this book. This is WAY more than a coffee table book, and it does its subject justice.

Regarding the hardback vs. the paperback versions of this book, having gone through each version personally, my advice is to spring the extra few dollars for the hardback edition, for three reasons: 1.) While the paperback is nice as far as paperback editions go, it's a bit incompatible with the quality of the book's contents, 2.) There is a large (and quite beautiful) 4 page cross section foldout of the ship bound into the book which is awkward to view fully open in the paperback version without damaging the book's spine, and 3.) Because the book is so large and heavy, I'd be concerned about the durability of the paperback version; the paper used is of quite a heavy weight, and the book's spine has a lot to support.