A MAN AND HIS SHIP

Ujifusa has produced one of the most positive, feel-good biographies I have read in a long time. Read more...

A Man and His Ship, a hugely entertaining re-creation of the age of the ocean liner, will leave older readers nostalgic, younger readers envious, and all of them engrossed in the drama of William Francis Gibbs as he fights to build the greatest ship of them all, the S.S. United States. The Cunard Line once boasted that ‘getting there is half the fun.’ Now Steven Ujifusa has given us the other half.

A fitting memorial to our greatest naval architect.

Interview with Author Read more...

In his first book, historian Ujifusa delivers a delightful account of the era of grand ocean liners and the brilliant, single-minded designer who yearned to build the greatest ocean liner of all…. Obsessed with ships, Gibbs seems a one-dimensional figure, but Ujifusa concentrates on his career, an excellent decision that results in a vivid account of the business, politics and technical details surrounding transatlantic travel in that time period.

In his debut, Ujifusa harks back to a time when men were men, and transatlantic ships were serious business...Written with passion and thoroughness, this is a love letter to a bygone time and the ships that once ruled the seas.

The sea inspires obsessions in determined men, from Captain Ahab to Admiral Rickover. Steven Ujifusa introduces us to another – the naval architect William Francis Gibbs. His ingenious design of mass-producible Liberty ships helped win World War II, but Gibbs’ obsession was to build the world’s fastest, safest and most elegant Atlantic liner. He ultimately succeeded, but in a decade his masterpiece was obsolete and unprofitable. Ujifusa narrates this tragedy well, in all its technical, political and human dimensions.

post by Author Read more...

Fascinating historical account…a snapshot of the American Dream culminating with this country’s mid-century greatness.

A marvelous narrative of America’s premier naval architect.

interview with the author, July 6, 2012 Read more...

Liner United States set record for trans-Atlantic voyage Maiden voyage in 1952 took 3 days, 10 hours and 40 minutes Read more...

an absorbing, transporting new history…Ujifusa’s book is a portrait in determination. Read more...

best new book pick for week of July 9, July 6, 2012 Read more...

Few of man's creations possess even half the romance of the passenger ships that once steamed across the world's oceans, especially the North Atlantic. That is why Steven Ujifusa's ‘A Man and His Ship’ is such a compelling work. Read more...