This well-researched book tells the fascinating story of the then-most-famous liner in the world, the Mauretania. Built for the North Atlantic she was created to regain the fabled Blue Ribband that had been taken from Great Britain by a rapidly expanding and imperially ambitious Germany. Although she and her sistership, Lusitania, did regain the Ribband, speed was only part of the reason of why she had been constructed; rapid conversion into an Armed Merchant Cruiser in time of war was a role never realized as, when war finally came, this Cunard liner became a fast troopship and a hospital ship. After the Armistice, "The Grand Old Lady of the North Atlantic" continued to astound, retaining the Blue Ribband for an amazing 22 years David Hutching re-examines this legendary ship.
