A photographic review of the ships of the Caledonian MacBrayne line, a successor company of those originally established by David MacBrayne in 1851 and James Williamson who founded the Caledonian Steam Packet Company on the River Clyde in 1889. The book covers a thirty-year period from 1969 when the Scottish Transport Group came into existence and took control of the main shipping services in the Clyde and West Highlands, changing the focus from passenger routes using rail and steamer connections to ferries able to carry cars and road freight. Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd was formed in 1973 and the Clyde and West Highlands fleets were combined. The book covers ships operating in the Clyde and West Highlands prior to unification, the combined fleet thereafter and ferries operating in the Orkney and Shetland Islands. There are detailed descriptions and photographs of the vessels, an index of ship names and an appendix lists major vessels and their routes.