Bergen's Local Shipping Services 1839 to 1989

The Norwegian local steamer, for those whose livelihood depended on her, was far more than a mere conveyance. She became an institution, part of late 19th and early 20th century folklore, and an integral element of everyday life. This book, first published in 1989, is the saga of how, over 150 years a remarkable transport system, perhaps without parallel anywhere else in the world in terms of extent and complexity, evolved in western Norway, from the days of the pioneer steamship owners to the era of car ferries and express-boats.