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(Mr. Lepien served as a Vice President of The Titanic Historical Society, is an authority on shipping and is author of numerous articles, predominately on the White Star Line.)

As the proverb goes, "All good things come to ye who wait." For those of us who have anxiously anticipated publication of Paul Louden-Brown's book on the White Star Line, the question is -- if the wait was worth it? Well, I would say an overwhelming yes! If you are looking for a succinct and well-written history of the White Star Line, this is it. If you are looking for conspiracies or a litany of the trials and tribulations of various ships within the White Star fleet, then you will probably be disappointed. This book contains the facts, pure and simple. The various "fender-benders," groundings, collisions, and other misfortunes of White Star ships were probably no more or no less than what other steamship companies of this era sustained. Yes, the company endured some major disasters and, yes, they did have the misfortune of owning Titanic; this book does not dwell upon these tragic stories, but maintains objectivity by placing them in their proper perspective.

Louden-Brown has researched ocean liners throughout his life, and since the 1970s specialized in the White Star Line collecting as much material as was available. His endeavors have made him a natural for writing a history of the company.

Michael Bower Manser, the great grandson of Thomas Henry Ismay, wrote the foreword. After hearing from many authors that anyone connected to the Ismay family has a great reluctance to having any dealings with the subject, this alone lends credibility to the book. After the introduction, the next section consists of a condensed, yet concise history of the White Star Line including well-chosen illustrations to compliment the text. The bulk of the remainder concerns itself with biographies of the various ships that were part of the White Star fleet. Especially noted are vessels that spent very little time in White Star service such as Justicia and Zeeland. Here, the author's choice of illustrations and photographs really shine, as many of them are new to this reviewer who is always looking for something different. I have had a passion for ocean liners since 1953 and finding fresh images is a challenge for any author. Even the most jaded ocean liner researcher will enjoy this part of the book alone. Of course, on the subject of photographs of the Olympic class liners, this task is very difficult indeed and Louden-Brown imaginatively used illustrations of less common ones including an artist's impression postcard of HMS Hawke colliding with Olympic that is new to this reviewer.

Two minor matters that concerned me were the lack of coverage in the chapter on "Livestock Carriers." In this section on Nomadic (I), the author wrote that the ship had been subjected to "severe stability tests in order to check her seaworthiness" after the loss of her sistership Naronic. This is the only mention of Naronic in the text; her "mysterious" disappearance is not covered. Although much speculation as to the cause of this ship's vanishing has been written, unfortunately, no one has found the wreck to substantiate any of their claims. This reviewer felt that she, too, should have been included. Although she was built to carry cattle, and there is probably little interest in her, except, unless the reader happens to be a cow.

The second item is in the chapter on the "Big Four" where the author states that Adriatic (II) was the "Last of the 'Big Four' and the largest vessel in the world, until the advent of Mauretania (I)." Technically, Kaiserin Auguste Victoria (KAV) which made her maiden voyage on 10 May 1906 was 40 tons larger than Adriatic (II) (KAV 24,581 tons versus Adriatic's 24,541 tons). Although Adriatic (II) was the longer of the two vessels at 709.2 feet versus the KAV's 677.5 feet, a difference of 31.7 feet. Whichever ship was considered the largest, both lost their title in September 1907 with the entry into service of Cunard's Lusitania. Of course, these two minor objections may just represent the bias of this reviewer or it could just be nitpicking. Many authors have written that Adriatic (II) was the "largest ship in the world" at the time of her maiden voyage. At the time of her launching "The Shipbuilder" called Adriatic (II) the third largest vessel afloat. The author discusses and disposes of some of the legends concerning the company and the people who owned and ran it. For example, the myth that J. P. Morgan financed the construction of the Olympic-class liners; the White Star Line was entirely debt free before the purchase by Morgan who mortgaged the entire fleet in order to finance the project.

The book is dedicated to Joseph Bruce Ismay and Louden-Brown handles his story in a fair manner unlike the judgmental attitudes of the American press at the time of the Titanic disaster. As he points out J. Bruce Ismay had met William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper magnate and one of the richest and most powerful men in America when Ismay was White Star's agent in New York. The two men took an intense dislike to each other and years later at the time of the sinking of Titanic, Hearst took the opportunity to vent his hatred.

This reviewer found Louden-Brown's coverage of the US Immigration Laws of the 1920s particularly interesting. We know that Congress passed new ones curtailing the number of people coming to this country and the results caused many hardships for the steamship companies that depended on the immigrant trade. The richness of first class, in the great liners of the past, were well-known but most of this luxury was built from the companies' "bread and butter" immigrant trade. Although many books have stated that those laws were responsible for the steamship companies changing directions in order to fill their ships, what they consisted of isn't discussed. Louden-Brown provides that perspective describing the cause and effect (not to mention headaches) that they had upon all the steamship companies. As I mentioned in the first paragraph of this review this book is well worth the wait; the only major complaint that I have is the book is too short. To me this is a good indication that I enjoyed it. The old adage that "leaving the audience wanting more" is true in this case! The author is working on a definitive history of the White Star Line that will in the future provide us with even more documentation on the development of this famous steamship company. In the last few years with the intense "Titanicmania" that has swept the world, there has been a glut of books on Titanic; most of us have bought them, read them, and put them on the bookshelf; most of them will never be picked up again. I do not think this will be the case with "The White Star Line An Illustrated History" because, it is a beautiful and superb reference that you will continue to be drawn back to again and again.

Buy the book now!