|
During the nineteenth century, the roughest
but most important ocean passage in the world lay between
Britain and the United States. Bridging the Atlantic Ocean
by steamship was a defining, remarkable feat of the era.
Over time, Atlantic steamships became the largest, most
complex machines yet devised. They created a new transatlantic
world of commerce and travel, reconciling Anglo-American
enemies and bringing millions of emigrants to transform
the United States.
In Transatlantic, the experience
of crossing the Atlantic is re-created in stunning detail
from the varied perspectives of first class, steerage, officers,
and crew. The dynamic evolution of the Atlantic steamer
is traced from Brunel's Great Western of 1838 to
Cunard's Mauretania of 1907, the greatest steamship
ever built. Set against the classic tension of modern technology
contending with a formidable natural environment, the story
is rife with disasters. The key element is steam power:
the universal, magical, transforming microchip of the nineteenth
century.
Stephen Fox, a freelance historian, is
the author of five previous books. He lives near Boston,
Massachusetts.
|
