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The SS Great Britain, built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, ushered in a revolution in passenger shipping when she first sailed in 1845. Powerful enough to keep to pre-arranged schedules, and carrying her passengers in unprecedented comfort, she was the prototype of the modern liner.
In the mid-nineteenth century, sea travel was a novel and exotic experience and many of Great Britain's voyagers recorded their impressions in letters home or in journals. Drawing on this unique archive, the author describes the life on this great ship: the accommodation and food, the social and religious life on board, the many dubious and eccentric characters encountered and the hazards of long sea voyages, in particular the ever-present menace of disease.
