QE2 A PICTORIAL JOURNEY: Book review

This new addition to the many books written about Cunard’s iconic and symbolic ship the Queen Elizabeth 2 is from 2 passionate fans of the ship.

The book has over 200 pictures that seem to largely be from their own collections that were taken on the many trips that they have taken on the ship, and there is very limited text and some short but interesting sections by William Miller and QE2 Captain Ian McNaught.

The thing that I liked about this book is that is does what it says!

I like the fact that it covers basically every public room and each of the accommodations in neat sections. with photographs showing what the ship looks like. I would love to have had this book before I did my first (and only!) crossing on the ship back in 2004. It is a simple idea for a book and one that will be of benefit to past and new fans of the ship. It may also prove to be an interesting record of what the ship looked like before it gets converted into its new use in Dubai. And if rumours are true, then changes to the ship may be drastic and dramatic to convert it into the new use.

The book covers: Accommodation, Restaurants, Bars & Lounges, Public Areas, Crew Areas and then some topics covering the external aspects of the ship. Every section has a photo or series of photos and as they are personal photographs they have a sense of real to them, versus glossy professional stylised photos. They show some of the warts of the ship!

There is some text with each section which is crisp and short, and later in the book some fun facts and things which do not work quite as well as there are many well told sea jokes/ anecdotes but are not a big distraction.

I enjoyed this book and was glad I have added it to my collection of Cunard books. I have a lot of Cunard brochures from over the years and when I sell them on eBay it seems the main reason want them is for the photos of the ship interiors – this book now solves that. Annoyingly!

If you want to buy the book or find out more you can buy it through the links below

BUY FROM AMAZON UK

BUY FROM AMAZON USA