175 years of P&O heritage

For the thousands of passengers marking P&O’s Grand Event this week, and the hundreds of thousands taking cruises on the line’s ships throughout the year, the story of the company’s 175-year history will make a great souvenir.
Its 192 pages are packed with more than 300 fascinating pictures of life on board ships from the earliest – William Fawcett (above) – to today’s fleet. Long-time favourite Canberra, which introduced many to cruising for the first time, delivered countless families to a new life in Australia, and came home rust-streaked from the Falklands War (below), also features prominently.
And it is little details which make the book so fascinating; contrast the dining room captured in 1892 by William Lloyd, as a small steamship crossed the Bay of Biscay in rough weather, with the lavish chocaholics buffet on display aboard Artemis in 2010.