Sydney was rocked by the news that the ferry Greycliffe had been run down and sunk by the trans-Pacific Royal Mail Steamship Tahiti. Forty or so of Greycliffe's passengers were dead or missing. Onlookers lined the water-front. Vessels of all sizes rushed to the scene to assist. Whilst losses were relatively small in comparison to some of the more infamous maritime disasters in history, Sydneysiders were profoundly stunned by the tragedy. It seemed so sudden, so random, so terribly violent, and so much like it could have been one of them.

The Tahiti-Greycliffe collision remains the deadliest shipping accident to have occurred on Sydney Harbour. Steve Brew has managed to combine his interests in modern history and genealogy to produce a book on the subject that focuses on the individuals whose lives were touched by the tragedy, from those who survived the tragedy to those who did not, as well as the events surrounding the accident. In my opinion, I found that in doing so, Brew manages to make the story more compelling. Far from being a cold technical analysis of a collision between two vessels, this is actually a quite moving human story. It is easy to understand the universal sadness that descended upon Sydney in the aftermath.

Brew has done a very good job indeed with this book. It is well written, thoroughly researched, and well illustrated with period photographs and drawings (many never before published). In fact I found the period photographs of Sydney fascinating. Aerial views of Circular Quay and Garden Island, the old passenger terminals in Darling Harbour, and Tahiti passing beneath an unfinished Harbour Bridge are but few. Overall, the book is a very high quality production for a limited edition publication run.

Who would I recommend this book to? I'd say amateur historians, anyone with an interest in Australia's maritime history, or anyone with an interest in Sydney's past would find much of interest in this publication. Of course, relatives of those affected by the tragedy are also a part of Brew's intended audience.