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Purchase signed copies of Mark Chirnside’s books here – with a simple signature or a personal inscription! Each book title is a hyperlink that leads to the individual book page containing images, reviews, and purchasing information. If you have any queries, please contact Mark and he will be glad to help.
Oceanic: White Star’s ‘Ship of the Century’
(November 2018)
The first book to focus on Oceanic‘s conception and successful commercial career.
Oceanic: White Star’s ‘Ship of the Century’ is the first book to focus on Oceanic‘s conception and successful commercial career, prior to her untimely loss during war service in September 1914. The book’s 144 pages, including an expansive colour section, provide a detailed and original illustrated history of one of White Star’s most prestigious ships. Much of the material is published here for the first time.
With human anecdotes, hitherto unpublished material and rare illustrations, Mark Chirnside’s book is a beautiful tribute to a unique ocean liner. See full details and reviews here.
To purchase signed copies of this book from the author, select your country, add any personal inscriptions you may desire, and add to the cart using the secure PayPal button below:
Book price: £20 plus postage.
The ‘Big Four’ of the White Star Fleet: Celtic, Cedric, Baltic & Adriatic
(October 2016)
The ‘Big Four’ led successful lives that have, largely, been overlooked.
The ‘Big Four’ of the White Star Fleet: Celtic, Cedric, Baltic & Adriatic is the first book to focus solely on these four successful sister ships. In many ways, they were the backbone of the company’s fleet from 1901 until the merger with Cunard. Adriatic, in particular, can be seen as a forerunner of the ‘Olympic’ class ships with many features such as Turkish Baths installed for the first time. Originally envisaged as 144 pages, the finished book ended up 192 pages in length, making it a comprehensive, lavishly illustrated book containing rare and previously unpublished photographs and information.
The ‘Big Four’ led successful lives that have, largely, been overlooked. This volume is intended to go some way to putting that right. See full details and reviews here.
To purchase signed copies of this book from the author, select your country, add any personal inscriptions you may desire, and add to the cart using the secure PayPal button below:
Book price: £20 plus postage.
RMS Olympic: Titanic’s Sister
(September 2015)
Overshadowed frequently by her sister ships Titanic and Britannic, Olympic’s history deserves more attention than it has received.
RMS Olympic: Titanic’s Sister was published as a thoroughly revised and expanded edition (from the older 2004 edition seen below) in September 2015. The new volume has been expanded by 32 pages and contains considerable new material and images. As well as a fully revised existing text, many of the original chapters have been expanded and new appendices added – making it an invaluable reference. The original book was the most extensive history yet written about ‘Old Reliable’ and the new edition is even better, expanded from 320 to 352 pages and with an updated 16 page colour section.
Overshadowed frequently by her sister ships Titanic and Britannic, Olympic’s history deserves more attention than it has received. She was evolutionary in design rather than revolutionary, but marked an ambition for the White Star Line to dominate the North Atlantic express route. Rivals immediately began trying to match her in size and luxury. The optimism that led to her conception was rewarded, whereas her doomed sisters never fulfilled their creators’ dreams.
See full details and reviews here.
To purchase signed copies of this book from the author, select your country, add any personal inscriptions you may desire, and add to the cart using the secure PayPal button below:
Book price: £30 plus postage.
The Sting of the Hawke: Collision in the Solent – The Full Story Behind the Collision Between HMS Hawke and RMS Olympic on 20 September 1911
(January 2015)
The incident was a controversial one at the time and remains so to this day.
The Sting of the Hawke: Collision in the Solent – The Full Story Behind the Collision Between HMS Hawke and RMS Olympic on 20 September 1911 is a monograph that looks into the famous collision and examines it in detail. What really happened that September day in 1911 in the Solent? Was it a simple case of hydrodynamic suction or negligent navigation on part of one or both vessels? The incident was a controversial one at the time and remains so to this day.
For the first time, the events leading up to this collision are examined in great detail, with the claims of both sides thoroughly analyzed to see what was possible and what was not. Based on all the evidence presented, a most likely scenario of what really happened in the Solent that day is presented showing the minute-by-minute movements of each vessel before and after the collision. See full details and reviews here.
To purchase signed copies of this book from the author, select your country, add any personal inscriptions you may desire, and add to the cart using the secure PayPal button below:
Book price: £7.80 plus postage.
Olympic Titanic Britannic: An Illustrated History of the ‘Olympic’ Class Ships
(February 2012)
This beautifully illustrated book details Olympic’s successful career and the premature ends of her two unfortunate sisters.
Olympic Titanic Britannic: An Illustrated History of the ‘Olympic’ Class Ships provides more of a focus on the human stories, combined with a lot of new information and anecdotes as well as previously unpublished images. It is a lighter, shorter and more lavishly illustrated book, in a similar but improved format to Mark’s Majestic and Aquitania histories. It therefore complements the earlier ‘Olympic’ class volume or, alternatively, provides a useful introduction to, and overview of, the subject for the newer enthusiast.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, competition between the North Atlantic shipping lines was fierce. While Britain responded to the commercial threat posed by the growing German merchant marine, there was also rivalry between the great Cunard Line and its chief competitor, the White Star Line. Against this backdrop Olympic, Titanic and Britannic were conceived.
With a focus on the human histories of those who travelled and worked on the ships, this beautifully illustrated book details Olympic’s successful career and the premature ends of her two unfortunate sisters. See full details and reviews here.
To purchase signed copies of this book from the author, select your country, add any personal inscriptions you may desire, and add to the cart using the secure PayPal button below:
Book price: £25 plus postage.
The ‘Olympic’ Class Ships: Olympic, Titanic & Britannic
(May 2011)
The original book was praised as ‘an extraordinarily researched and documented book’ and the new volume has been improved further.
The ‘Olympic’ Class Ships was published as a revised and expanded edition in May 2011 (from the original late-2004 edition seen below). The original book was praised as ‘an extraordinarily researched and documented book’ and the new volume has been improved further: expanded from 352 to 384 pages, plus a new 16 page colour section. A number of corrections or amendments have been made, while the book has been freshened up with a revised cover, new illustrations and information, as well as additional text bringing the story up to date combined with a number of new appendices.
The intensifying competition on the North Atlantic in the early years of the twentieth century led the White Star Line to order three huge liners. While their British rival, the Cunard Line, focused on speed, White Star concentrated on size and luxury. Orders were placed for Olympic and Titanic, to be built at Harland & Wolff’s yard in Belfast, while the third sister ship, Britannic, would follow at a later date. See full details and reviews here.
To purchase signed copies of this book from the author, select your country, add any personal inscriptions you may desire, and add to the cart using the secure PayPal button below:
Book price: £30 plus postage.
RMS Aquitania: The ‘Ship Beautiful’
(September 2008)
This history of Aquitania’s life contains a great deal of original research.
This history of Aquitania’s life contains a great deal of original research, including previously unpublished diaries of her war service and eight appendices.
Of the fourteen four stackers built, Aquitania was one of the longest lived and the only one to survive two world wars. Launched in 1913, she was the third four funneled liner for Cunard, and the only one not to have a Government subsidy. Aquitania entered commercial service in May 1914 and was christened ‘The Ship Beautiful’ thanks to her elegant interiors… Mark Chirnside tells the story in words and pictures of one of Cunard’s finest liners, from her birth to her death, a journey that began on the Clyde and which then took Aquitania three million miles only to finish within twenty miles of her birthplace. See full details and reviews here.
To purchase signed copies of this book from the author, select your country, add any personal inscriptions you may desire, and add to the cart using the secure PayPal button below:
Book price: £25 plus postage.