In the first decades of the twentieth century, luxurious liners and warships ruled the waves. Many of these fabled ships - Titanic, Britannic, Bismarck and others - shared a common bond: their wrecks have been located or visited by the world-renowned deep-sea explorer, Robert D. Ballard. Together, the legendary ships lost during the Second World War and the glory days of the luxury liner comprise an extraordinary underwater museum, around which world-renowned deep-sea explorer, Robert Ballard gives us a guided tour. The book is illustrated throughout with specially commissioned paintings by Ken Marschall, the world's foremost painter of the Titanic, her contemporaries and other famous maritime wrecks. In crisp detail, Marschall depicts the great ships, both in their prime and on the ocean floor in eerie repose. Complementing Marschall's paintings is a vast collection of modern day underwater photography, archival images, illustrations and memorabilia that recall the ships' former glory. In May 2004, Ballard returned to the site of his most famous underwater discovery, the Titanic, to map the ship and analyse the causes and rate of its decay.
This latest expedition, documented in a new epilogue, also underscores Ballard's ongoing commitment to the preservation of this unique underwater legacy.