SS Normandie


Book Description

Learn the full story behind the most decoratively striking of all the great Atlantic liners, the SS Normandie A creation of the extravagant 1930s, the Normandie was the pride of the great French Line, the national flagship, and a ship well ahead of almost all other passenger ships of her time. She was the largest, longest, and fastest, but also the most decoratively stunning and had the most striking and innovative overall design. Her dining room was longer than the famed Hall of Mirrors at Versailles and her outer decks were uncluttered, superbly balanced, and streamlined. Her career was, however, highly dramatic and quite tragic in the end. She sailed commercially for just four years, and then was laid up in New York due to the start of World War II; she suffered the fate of burning at her pier, capsizing, and becoming a complete loss. In 1946, to the great sadness of her endless fans, the 11-year-old ship went to the breakers. This book, through added insight and anecdotes by experts with many superb, unpublished photos, greatly adds to the story of this finest of French liners.




Normandie


Book Description

A magnificent tribute to the illustrious and ill-fated steamship. Normandiewas unquestionably the most beautiful ocean liner ever built. The world's largest at the time, she also became the world's fastest. Her art deco interiors were unrivaled: capacious, elegant, and chic, decorated by teams of France's most talented artists. YetNormandiewas plagued with frustrations-never attracting more passengers than the competition and tragically ending her days in flames at New York's Pier 88. Celebrated maritime historian John Maxtone-Graham confesses to a hypnotic fascination withNormandie. In this comprehensive volume, enriched by over 200 photographs and illustrations, he documents every aspect of the vessel's decorative antecedents, design, construction, and service. Always articulate, entertaining, and devastatingly well informed, Maxtone-Graham has created the definitiveNormandiepanegyric, a comprehensive and, at times, heartbreaking account of this fabled liner. 30 color and 175 black-and-white illustrations.




Normandie


Book Description

Recounts the construction of the Normandie, one of the world's largest ocean liners, describes the ship's facilities, decoration, and voyages, and explains why it was dismantled for scrap in 1946




A History of Interior Design


Book Description

Delivers the inside story on 6,000 years of personal and public space. John Pile acknowledges that interior design is a field with unclear boundaries, in which construction, architecture, the arts and crafts, technology and product design all overlap.





Book Description

Seldom, if ever, has a writer been given access to a former major drug dealer in the Mafia underworld and three generations of family members that followed. After nearly two years of interviews and subsequent research, it has been discovered that a close relative of the family was one of the most powerful figures in the Mafia from the 1940s to the mid 1990s, yet his identity until now has never been revealed. He was the consigliere for all of the American Mafia. The book tells in detail the life and times of a family who escaped the threat of Fascism in Sicily at the turn of the century and the rise of one of the children to a major figure in the Mob. Another sibling returned from a tragic life in an orphanage only to become an adept criminal. He ultimately spent twenty years off and on in prison with the Whos Who of the Mafia, men who became friends and had secret stories to tell. After prison, he became one of the pioneers of Off Off Broadway in NYC and later was responsible for the regeneration of Little Italy in the Lower East Side of NYC. The book details the influence and protection afforded later generations of the family to this day. It offers a unique insight into the real life of people during this 100 year period. Myths about the Mob are disclosed and inaccuracies in the history of the Mafia are corrected. It is a very compelling epic true story. It is a book you will not be able to put down. Look on www.mafiasecretjudge.com for further details.




Normandie


Book Description




My Ocean Liner


Book Description

For ages 7-12. So begins this well crafted chapter book recounting the adventures of boy Paul, travelling from New York to France on the legendary ocean liner Normandie. Unlike the tragic stories of the passengers on the ill-fated Titanic, this one is filled with the pleasures and novelties of life at sea, with friends made and several unexpected adventures for Paul to retell for the rest of his life. As he finishes his tale with nostalgia for the lost world, the reader will share his memories and know something of the look, feel and smell of the ship, and the excitement of being a passenger on a great ocean liner in its glory days. Full-colour illustrations are well-spaced throughout he book, they recreate the grand details of the liner, from its dining room to its engine room. Thoroughly researched by the Normandie, they bring the ship vividly to life.




'Das Haus' the House and the Son of the Rabbi


Book Description

"Das Haus," (The House) is a story spanning almost seventy years, and is partially based on TRUE EVENTS as told to the author by our hero Erik Goldmann (Fictitious name) and the author's father-in-law. At the request of Erik, many of the characters and locations were changed to protect the survivors of that long ago Holocaust known as World War II. It has become a NOVEL partially based on some true events. The setting is modern day, with flashbacks to WWII Germany. This book recounts the story of an American journalist's attempt to investigate the resurgence of Fascism throughout the world, and especially in Germany. It is actually two books in one. The story switches back and forth from modern day to WWII. It shows how Fascism is still alive and well in Germany, Europe and even in the USA. It connects a modern day investigation, to the horrors of the past. Direct experiences by the author are incorporated into the novel, and make for an exciting personal adventure by our characters. Although many of the characters are real, it had to be written as a novel based on some true events. It is the amazing adventure of two young Jewish-German children growing up in an idyllic small village near the Belgium frontier. Their lives suddenly and forever changed by the "Night of the Crystal" and their detention in Buchenwald concentration camp. His eventual release and escape to America. How a brave young man, Erik, was given another chance to redeem himself by joining the American Army on December 8th, 1941. His amazing true adventure of fighting in North Africa, Sicily, Italy; landing at Normandy and fighting all the way across France, Belgium and surviving the "Battle of the Bulge." On February 25th, 1945 he was given command of an Army infantry unit, and allowed to liberate his own village six years after his deportation. The incredible circle of life was rejoined and completed. Unfortunately he was the only Jewish survivor of his village. The spiritual quest for his family, and the rest of the Jews of Niedergeyer (Fictitious) eventually leads him to a meeting with the American journalist researching modern day Fascism. It is an exciting journey into hell and back again. A mixture of "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan."




A History of Ocean Liners in 50 Objects


Book Description

Explore the history of ocean liners through the objects that bring them to life. Liners represented the ambitions of their nations in peace and war; their design, interiors and fittings incorporated the finest contemporary technological and artistic features. In peacetime they carried celebrities, vacationers and emigrants; while in war they carried thousands of troops – and then war brides seeking new lives. A History of Ocean Liners in 50 Objects takes in evolving technology, supreme luxury and fine cuisine, as well as hardship and the burning hope for a better life. There is peril, disaster and death, international pride and competition, glory and war. The objects tell a fascinating story, showing how the functional sea voyage has evolved from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century to the huge cruise industry we have today.




Atlantic Liners: A Trio of Trios


Book Description

They formed three trios of wonder ships. From the Cunard Line came the Lusitania, Mauretania, and Aquitania. From the White Star Line came the Olympic, the infamous Titanic, and the Britannic. From the Hamburg-Amerika Line came the Imperator, Vaterland and Bismarck, which would later find service as Cunard's Berengaria, the U.S. Line's Leviathan, and White Star's Majestic. They were, in turn, the fastest, most powerful, largest and most luxurious ocean liners that had ever sailed that ocean. Some would find great success; others would suffer disaster. Their careers would be affected by natural elements, by mismanagement, and by the brutalities of war. Their fates were also inextricably intertwined. The all-new 2009 Version of "Atlantic Liners" boasts over 730 photos, as well as nearly a dozen general arrangement plans of the ships. An Introduction has been penned by Mark Chirnside.