Normandie was unquestionably the most beautiful ocean liner ever built. The world's largest at the time, she also became the world's fastest. Her art deco interiors were unrivalled: capacious, elegant and chic, decorated by teams of France's most talented artists. Yet Normandie was plagued with frustrations-never attracting more passengers than the competition and tragically ending her days in flames at New York's Pier 88.Celebrated maritime historian John Maxtone-Graham confesses to a hypnotic fascination with Normandie. In this comprehensive volume, he documents every aspect of the vessel's decorative antecedents, design, construction and service. Always articulate, entertaining and devastatingly well informed, Maxtone-Graham has created the definitive Normandie panegyric, a comprehensive and at times, heartbreaking account of this fabled liner.