From humble beginnings in the 1830s, The Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company grew to dominate British mercantile shipping for much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Initially, the company's paddle steamers carried Her Majesty's Mail to the Iberian Peninsula, as the name implies, but over time P&O extended its routes across the Mediterranean and onwards to the Middle East, Far East and Australasia. Besides the mail, P&O liners carried bullion, silk, tea, and even opium as well as passengers. The company came to represent the British Empire at sea – but as the Empire waned and British travellers took to the air, so a golden age of travelling by sea came to an end. Ruth Artmonsky here delves into the P&O Heritage Collection to take a nostalgic glance astern at all those who travelled P&O.

Ruth Artmonsky trained as a psychologist and worked as a director of a worldwide management consultancy before turning her interests to design. Specialising in British design in the first half of the 20th century her books range from prints and printers, to artists and designers, and to their patrons, including Colin Anderson of the Orient Line in 'Shipboard Style'. P&O had an interest in the Orient Line from 1918, acquiring complete ownership in 1960, so that it was natural for Ruth Artmonsky to follow up her interest in shipping and its passengers to the parent company.