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S'està carregant… The Sway of the Grand Saloon: A Social History of the North Atlantic (1971)de John Malcolm Brinnin
  
Cap No hi ha cap discussió a Converses sobre aquesta obra.   ) varielle | Dec 7, 2021 |  And a thoroughly enjoyable book it is too, Brinnin brings alive the Brunel and Cunard ambitions and achievements and writes the adventure-story of the challenges and competition of the early transatlantic crossings, by steam rather than the glorious ”cloud driven” sailing packets and schooners of the East Coast and the Maritimes. From the first ‘hybrids’ of steam-assisted clippers through to the close of the glorious trade of the super-liners with their swaying Grand Saloons the author humanizes a history peopled by many strong and daring characters (Captains Preserved Fish and Pardon Gifford) but always dominated by the Halifax based Cunarders. Originally an immigrant family from the Rhine the Kunders became Cunard – one of the most recognized and the longest lasting shipping families in the Maritimes. The pages (and excellent index and bibliography) echo with the glorious names – the Aquitaine, Great Eastern and Western, the Queens, America, Bremen, Lusitania … and, of course, RMS Titanic. Against all current business sense and advice, Sir Samuel Cunard alone bid compliantly to the demands of the Victorian government (with the Royal Navy in the background thinking ahead to alternative uses of such a fine training ground) for fast, reliable and steam-driven fleet to be awarded the rights – with accompanying guaranteed subsidiary – to carry the Royal Mails across the Atlantic. Hence the prefix of RMS on these great majestic ships. Finally their glorious reign was ended by cheap and – nowadays spartan and arrogant – air service, the need for a regular crossing was being satisfied by the end of the 1960’s by multiple flag-carriers. Only in the cruise ships – those massive and probably far less seaworthy floating hotels – are there any slight echoes of the grandeur and luxury of those Grand and Swaying Saloons. John_Vaughan | Mar 20, 2012 |
It's the kind of book that has gone the way of the leviathan ocean liners that it chronicles: vast, ornate, eclectic, high-toned. For all its datedness, however, The Sway of the Grand Saloon conveys its rich material in ways that might elude contemporary argument- or narrative-driven histories. Brinnin was a man of letters -- another now-archaic category -- and his scope in Sway is not documentary history alone, but literature, popular culture, journalism, engineering, and even ancillary fields like medicine (to witness the discovery of Dramamine) and art history (to relate how Blue Boy came to reside in the Huntington Gallery). In his voracious interdisciplinary reading, Brinnin anticipated the purview of cultural studies, if none of its theoretical or political underpinnings. Premis
"In January 1818, six hardy souls made the first scheduled Atlantic passenger ship crossing, and a new industry was born. Reckless competition, horrific disasters, and human dramas shaped it. But with Jenny Lind, Lily Langtry, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oscar Wilde, and Mark Twain among the newsmakers who decorated passenger lists, the liners' appeal proved irresistible. Business flourished and with it adventure and romance. By 1900, the Golden Age was in full swing. The great liners with their grand "saloons" became playgrounds for gilded society and magnets for the rising middle class. But danger was ever threatening. In 1912, an iceberg ripped open the Titanic, a tragedy in which John Jacob Astor's heroism made history. In 1915, the torpedoed Lusitania went down with Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, who refused to rush for the lifeboats, and in 1956 the Andrea Doria, victim of a collision, shattered yet again the myth of unsinkability. During the 1950s, the proud transatlantic liners steamed off the front page of history, victims of inexpensive air travel. John Malcolm Brinnin's unerring eye for fascinating details captures the excitements and traumas of a splendid century. Through the triumphs and tragedies of Inman, Cunard, Brunel, and their fellow titans, Brinnin tells how the grand saloons shaped architecture, design, and fashion - creating a world of unforgettable interest."-- No s'han trobat descripcions de biblioteca. |
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 Google Books — S'està carregant…GèneresClassificació Decimal de Dewey (DDC)387.5Social sciences Commerce, Communications, Transportation Rivers, Oceans, and Flight Maritime HistoryLCC (Clas. Bibl. Congrés EUA)ValoracióMitjana: (3.55)
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