A MAN & HIS SHIP: The Story of William Francis Gibbs and the SS United States

Beginning of article

A MAN & HIS SHIP: the Story of William Francis Gibbs and the SS United States By Steven Ujifusa 420 Pgs., Illustrated, 6-in ? 9-in, Paperback, ISBN: 13-978-1-45164507-1 - $29.95. Simon & Shuster, NY; www. simonandschuster.com

For all of legendary leadership in the Industrial Age, the United States of America seldom felt the need to produce luxury liners on par with the elegance, speed, and size comparable to Europe's RMS Queen Mary, Normandy, or Titanic. The reasons for this oversight are many and varied, and therein lays the substance of historian Steve Ujifusa's first epic biography: America's sole exception to the rule - the magnificent liner SS United States which made …