Conceived in the period of German maritime expansion in the tumultuous years just before the First World War, the construction of the Imperator, Vaterland and Bismarck represented an attempt by one man, the shipping genius Albert Ballin, to monopolize the lucrative Hamburg-New York passenger traffic with his Hamburg American line, destined to become the world's largest shipping line. When launched, the three sister ships, all 50.000-tonners, were the largest passenger vessels ever built. After the Armistice, the imperator and Bismarck were taken by the British as reparations, being renamed Berengaria and Majestic respectively. Packed with a wealth of contemporary illustrations, this is an absorbing and splendidly detailed account of the lives of three of the world's most remarkable passenger ships.