On 7 May 1915, one of the most beloved and legendary liners of the North Atlantic was torpedoed by a German U-boat, taking 1,191 of her passengers and crew to an untimely demise. She had become a victim of the First World War, the most brutal conflict the world had yet seen.

Lusitania: An Illustrated Biography is a comprehensive two-part look at her entire story, from her origins in the shipyards of Clydebank to her terrible, tragic end. It reveals her as she has never been seen before through words, historical photographs, and breath-taking computer animations.

Volume One: Life of a Greyhound tells how Lusitania came to be built, shows her construction, discusses her technical marvels and reveals her incredible seven-and-a-half-year career. As you feel her magic stir in these pages, you will see why passengers travelled on her again and again, even after larger and more comfortable liners like White Star’s Olympic and Titanic came on the scene.

Prepare to take a journey back in time. Step aboard one of the largest, fastest and most beloved ocean liners of all time – a triumph of the Edwardian era – and relive her complete history in all its splendour.

This series has been collated by respected authors J. Kent Layton, Tad Fitch, Michael Poirier, Thomas Lynskey and Levi Rourke. J. Kent Layton and Tad Fitch have written and co-written many books, including J. Kent Layton’s seminal Lusitania: An Illustrated Biography, and the beautiful Recreating Titanic and Her Sisters, as co-authors. Tad Fitch and Michael Poirier co-authored Into the Danger Zone. Thomas Lynskey is a documentary maker, broadcaster and virtual museum experience developer. Levi Rourke is a digital recreator and historical animator.