The American peril: challenge to Britain and the North Atlantic, 1901-1904.

The American Peril: challenge to Britain on the North Atlantic, 1901-1904. By Vivian Vale. Dover, N.H.: Manchester University Press, 1984. viii + 256 pp. Illustrations, tables, appendixes, notes, and index. $40.00.

In May 1902, the British press announced that J. P. Morgan was promoting a combination of American and British trans-Atlantic shipping lines consisting of over 130 vessels aggregating nearly one million gross tons. News that the amalgamation included the prestigious White Star Line, which owned last vessels that were contracted to be available to the Admiralty in wartime, together with a later announcement that Morgan's combine had entered into a trading …