P&O cruises : celebrating 175 years of heritage : tracing our roots back 175 years /Sharon Poole & Andrew Sassoli-Walker.

A history of P&O to mark the 175th anniversary of P&O Cruises, commencing with the partnership formed in 1822 between Brodie McGhie Willcox and Arthur Anderson and which quickly became the Peninsular Steam Navigation Company. Winning the Admiralty contract to carry mail between the United Kingdom and the Iberian peninsular was a turning point for the company. Successfully tendering for the contract to deliver mail to the Indian subcontinent in 1840, the company name was changed to the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company, from then on known as P&O. The book charts the development from liners to cruise ships and the rebranding to P&O Cruises, merger with the Orient Line in 1960, acquisition of the American cruise line Princess in 1974 and merger with Carnival Corporation in 2003. Other chapters focus on the company's relationship with the port of Southampton, corporate culture, dining on board, shore excursions, entertainment and activities on board and a summary of the role of officers, staff and crew. The book is illustrated throughout with photographs of ships and their interiors, personnel and paper ephemera.