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While on research for NORMANDIE, and his Splendour and magnificence, a symbol of times gone by, I came across this book - ART DÉCO written by Norber Wolf courtey PRESTEL VERLAG- as sold out, try AMAZON Now that books are shedding weight and dematerialising into electronic pads, I worry about the fate of coffee table books. Perhaps i see it a bit too dark. But books of a certain kind need to be bulky, and they also cry out to be displayed. Leafing through them can be as much of a tonic as the coffee or the wine on the table beside them. ART DÉCO, the style is so recognizable and widespread that its original impact on the culture in which it emerged has been all but lost in the clutter of imitation.  by Earl of Cruise With Norbert Wolf, PRESTEL VERLAG has taken the right decision to present the splendour and misery of `ART DÉCO´ in its entirety. Embedded in the creativity and restlessness of the 1920s, ART DÉCO's design has shaped our taste for decades without ...

The " Dutch TITANIC ", laid down 1912 as STATENDAM, seized by the British Royal Navy to become the trooper JUSTICIA . A new book by historian Tamás Balogh is the first compendium about that liner, that never saw civil service, and was lost during WWI. While TITANIC is ostentatiously called the most luxurious liner, STATENDAM offered luxury features that recalled the grandness of lounges and luxuries of the German Ballin trio - e.g. a Main Lounge two decks high, between the first and second funnel, a two deck high Dining Room, as well a Wintergarden of one and a half deck hight. OLYMPIC Class only offered one deck high salons ... by Earl of Cruise b/w copy from a painting of the intended STATENDAM, the second in the fleet of HOLLAND AMERICA LINE - courtesy Peter Meersman, collector of the original painting The first STATENDAM (10,322 GT) was constructed and inaugurated in 1898 and had been sold to ALLAN LINE in 1911. When STATENDAM II was laid down in Belfast...