The Only Way to Cross: The Golden Era of the great Atlantic express liners---from the Mauretania to the France and the Queen Elizabeth 2

I had the pleasure of meeting John Maxtone-Graham aboard the SS Norway in 1985. He autographed a copy of "The Only Way to Cross" and I have read it at least 3 times. I'll never tire of his detailed accounts of the ships and the people that made that era.What I found really wonderful about the book was not only learning about the best parts of transatlantic travel but the worst as well. The section on Steerage as well as on the Boiler rooms show you every side of what life was like aboard the grandest ships to ever ply the oceans of the world.If you buy only one book in your life buy this one!

If you like Ocean Liners, if you've ever dreamed of the days when crossing the North Atlantic meant 4 or more days at sea and not 5 or 6 hours in a cramped, fetid, airplane, this is the book for you. Maxtone-Grahm simply reaches into the past and makes a wonderful era come alive again. After you read it you'll swear you've voyaged on the Queens, the Mauretania or the Isle D' France...even if you were born in an era long after those ships went to the breakers. This is book is the MUST READ for anyone who claims the title "Liner Buff."

I have read many books before and since on ocean liner history, but I would have to say that Maxtone-Graham's work "The Only Way to Cross" is simply the best and finest crafted on the subject. His blend of technical facts and figures along with his witty observations on shipboard life truly gives the reader the sensation of being on-board one of these "floating palaces" at sea. Even someone like myself, born after most of the Great Liners were already gone, could get a palpable sense of shipboard life and could even feel whistfully nostalgic about these days long past, like I was actully there...no other book has ever left me with such a sense of longing for those days past as this one has. If you are at all into the history of the Great Liners, then please add this book to your library---it is the yardstick by which all other books on the subject should be measured; with most falling very short indeed.

Having been an ocean liner buff for my entire life, I have always been on the lookout for outstanding books on the subject. I happened to be in my local library a few years ago browsing for books on vintage liners when "The Only Way To Cross" caught my eye. Immediately upon getting back home I opened it up and read, "The North Atlantic is the most dangerous ocean in the world..." This opening line assured me of many pleasurable reading hours to come. "The Only Way To Cross" is a masterpiece of historical description and engrossing personal narrative worthy of forming the centrepiece of anybody's library on the subject. My thanks to John Maxtone-Graham for this one-of-a-kind. GET THIS BOOK!

I have read many books on ocean liners, and this is without a doubt the most readable book on the subject anywhere, Period! It contains Mr. Maxtone- Graham's real life experiences, passanger accounts and the technical side of the ships for the novice and the nautical expert alike. It is the best book I have ever read on the subject, and one of the best books on any subject! I would recommend this book to anyone willing to read it. It's great!!!!