Over the years, Southampton has seen many changes, the passenger liner has all but disappeared but cruise ships have more than helped filled the void. Southampton now handles more cargo and passengers than it ever did before. This book looks back to the 1960s, 70s and 80s, which has been called the days of traditional maritime activity in Southampton and the Solent.

One of the major boats featured in the book includes the Queen Elizabeth 2, which at nearly 40 years old, has travelled more than twice as many miles as her two predecessors Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth put together. She will be withdrawn from service from November 2008 when she will take her final trip to Dubai where she will become a floating hotel.

This hardback book contains more than 100 colour photos and is written by Mick Lindsey and Nigel V Robinson. Both authors also contributed many of the photographs that appear in the book with additional contributions by the late WH Mitchell.

The book is essentially a picture book so the technical information on the ships is generally kept to the minimum, but there are useful captions to include date, build, tonnage and location of each ship and in the case of tankers, deadweight capacities.

A vast array of boats are featured in this book ranging from the world famous Cunard Queens to the humblest tug and every conceivable ship type in between. There is something interesting in this book for every merchant ship enthusiast.

Solent Shipping Memories
Published by Bernard McCall
ISBN 978-1-902953-33-5
Hardback, 80 pages
Price £15.00