This beautiful book displays the 500-strong maritime postcard collection of former shipping agent Christopher Deakes, with a commentary equally illuminating on art history as on maritime history. The author sets the cards in a wider industrial and social context by describing the development of the passenger liner trades, the advances in ship design and the types of passengers the vessels carried. Mr Deakes also offers some fascinating information on the many unsung artists producing the postcard – a fair number of whom were former seafarers. Later on, the pages turn into a wonderful gallery of maritime art, each postcard captioned with notes on the ship portrayed, the company, the artist or the painting style. And for those inspired by the book, Mr Deakes helpfully describes how to go about building a postcard collection of your own. It's a terrific book, packed with information and full of some highly arresting imagery. Mr Deakes has done a fine job in delivering such a fine tribute to the artists he admires, and his book makes an illuminating read from artistic, industrial, historic and social perspective.

Nautilus Telegraph

A long lost age is colourfully captured in A Postcard History of the Passenger Liner by Christopher Deakes wit more than 500 highly collectable cards depicting the ships on which many of our ancestors sailed as emigrants, soldiers, colonial administrators or tourists.

This England

This is a delightful book and I very highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in this area.

Shipping Today and Yesterday

Here, brought vividly to life in more than 500 colourful postcards, are the liners in which so many of our predecessors sailed, as emigrants, soldiers or administrators in distant lands, or simply as tourists. These cards – now highly collectable – show how the ships developed over the years, and are also a fine tribute to the artists who painted them. A glossary of some 170 illustrators forms an important reference section in the book, and advice on collecting is also included.

Antiques Diary

A magnificent volume. Packed with the most beautiful artist-drawn picture postcards from the Golden-Age – liners, interiors, advertisements - it is a sheer delight. I'd challenge any non-postcard collector not to be entranced with the book's illustrations. It will be a friend for life.

Picture Postcard Monthly