Classic Liners Île de France and Liberté: France's Premier Post-War Liners

The latest in the Classic Liners series evokes the glamour and ambience of two of the most beloved liners of the 1950s

Žle de France, completed in 1927, was a hugely famous prewar liner, a ship with unique style and character. She was said to offer "the cheeriest way to cross the Atlantic." After wartime service as a valiant troopship, she was restored with what Paris fashion calls a "new look," relaunched in 1949. The Libert© was built in 1930, originally the German Europa, but ceded to France as reparations in 1946. She was de-Germanized and restyled in French Line luxury as the Libert©, recommissioned in 1950. The Žle de France sailed until 1958; the Libert© until 1961, and this illustrated book concentrates on their heydays in the glorious, post-World War II years, when they were the largest and grandest liners under the French flag. Both ships were famed for their service and onboard ambience, but most especially for their cooking, and they were said to be the best-fed liners on the Atlantic.