From around 1880 for almost 100 years shipowners commissioned a wealth of paintings that depicted, as well as their magnificent liners, the routes they travelled, their exotic destinations, and life on board. These paintings, rich in imagination and atmosphere, appeared on posters and postcards to advertise the companies and their ships; and so was born a whole genre that produced tens of thousands of images that form a wonderful record of the great era of the passenger liner.Here, bought vividly to life in more than 500 colourful postcards, are the ships in which so many of our predecessors sailed, as emigrants, soldiers or administrators in distant lands, or simply as tourists. These cards - now highly collectible - show how the ships developed over the years, and are also a fine tribute to the artists who painted them. A glossary of some 170 illustrators forms an important reference section in the book; the author also gives useful advice on collecting.This new paperback edition will be sought after by postcard collectors as well as liner enthusiasts, and by all those with an interest in the vanished world of elegant travel on the finest ships of their day. 'An evocative story of the vanished world of elegant ships and leisurely travel ...sumptuous.' Western Morning News'This is a really fabulous book.' Ocean Liner Society