Lake Geneva is not only a body of water of superlatives because of its size. No fewer than
eight historic paddle steamers from the Belle Époque have survived on the largest lake on the
edge of the Alps. Of these five are still powered by steam engines to this day. In addition
there are numerous motor ships from several decades with the newest ones just entering
service. Each of these ships is given a biography in the new book on the "History of navigation
on Lake Geneva " illustrated with numerous mostly never-before-published images. However not
only the vessels that have survived to this day are given their due but also the biographies
of historic ships that have already disappeared are included. The story begins with the steamer
Guillaume Tell which was put into service in 1823 as the first steamship in Switzerland.
