Originally published in 1978 Sea Serpents, Sailors and Sceptics looks at stories of folklore and mythology which have fascinated sailors from antiquity to the modern day. From stories of large unauthenticated sea creatures to the Loch Ness Monster, documented sightings are vast and the book provides a concise survey and review of the subject of ocean folklore. It shows how some large sea creatures, such as the giant squid, have been established and addresses some of the explanations of sea serpents and other sea creatures as now known, categorised species and offers a classification of these species that have formulated the mythologies of the sea throughout time. The book discusses how relatively little is known about the sea still and offers a practical look at the possibility that these mythological creatures, might in fact be, as yet undiscovered species. This book provides a unique interdisciplinary volume, crossing between the area of literature and folklore, and natural historians alike, and will appeal to academics working in the field of natural history and folklore alike.

The Age of Sail wrought the greatest change to the world in the history of mankind; possibly until the Age of Space Exploration. From 1450 to 1850 the Western world experienced explosive and violent change, most of it brought about by the great sailing ships of the era, and driven by the personal ambition for power and riches in a handful of men and women, who in many cases didn’t have a clue what they were getting into. Today, this exciting era receives just superficial coverage; names, dates and what was accomplished. But, behind these were real people, and digging into their lives can bring up startling facts: Columbus spent much of his life as a pirate. Magellan wasn’t the first to circumvent the globe. Horatio Nelson, England’s greatest naval hero, suffered from violent seasickness. America’s most famous lightkeeper, recognized for saving as many as 32 drowning men over 52 years, was a woman. Women served as crew in the British Navy, and fought alongside their husbands; a two-year-old boy served as a midshipman, and babies were born on Nelson's flagship during both the Battles of Trafalgar and the Nile. The British monarchy financed and provided oversight for the largest slave transport company in history. History can be humorous, surprising, and even shocking, and, it is anything but dull.

Fast paced, soul gripping, heart wrenching stories about sailors who walked as if they were on the streets of heaven, until they decided to march down a road leading to a fiery hell.

Written by a senior scholar and master mariner, Sailors and Traders is the first comprehensive account of the maritime peoples of the Pacific. It focuses on the sailors who led the exploration and settlement of the islands and New Zealand and their seagoing descendants, providing along the way new material and unique observations on traditional and commercial seagoing against the background of major periods in Pacific history. The book begins by detailing the traditions of sailors, a group whose way of life sets them apart. Like all others who live and work at sea, Pacific mariners face the challenges of an often harsh environment, endure separation from their families for months at a time, revere their vessels, and share a singular attitude to risk and death. The period of prehistoric seafaring is discussed using archaeological data, interpretations from interisland exchanges, experimental voyaging, and recent DNA analysis. Sections on the arrival of foreign exploring ships centuries later concentrate on relations between visiting sailors and maritime communities. The more intrusive influx of commercial trading and whaling ships brought new technology, weapons, and differences in the ethics of trade. The successes and failures of Polynesian chiefs who entered trading with European-type ships are recounted as neglected aspects of Pacific history. As foreign-owned commercial ships expanded in the region so did colonialism, which was accompanied by an increase in the number of sailors from metropolitan countries and a decrease in the employment of Pacific islanders on foreign ships. Eventually small-scale island entrepreneurs expanded interisland shipping, and in 1978 the regional Pacific Forum Line was created by newly independent states. This was welcomed as a symbolic return to indigenous Pacific ocean linkages. The book’s final sections detail the life of the modern Pacific seafarer. Most Pacific sailors in the global maritime labor market return home after many months at sea, bringing money, goods, a wider perspective of the world, and sometimes new diseases. Each of these impacts is analyzed, particularly in the case of Kiribati, a major supplier of labor to foreign ships.

Alan Simmons summarizes and synthesizes the evidence for prehistoric seafaring and island habitation in the Mediterranean as part of the mounting evidence that our ancestors developed sailing skills early in prehistory.

Mid-19th-century bible of U.S. sailors; no-nonsense text gives instructions for knotting and rigging, blacking the guns, stationing the crew, dealing with dire emergencies, much more. 70 rare engravings, glossary, 100 pages of useful tables.