Large format, 479 pages. Illustrated throughout with colour and black-and-white photos. 15 chapters from beginnings to modern day giving a comprehensive history of ship, mercantile and naval shipbuilding and development. Well-known contributors. This superb volume traces every step of the ship's development, from the earliest vessels of papyrus and balsa wood to the aircraft carriers and ocean liners of modern times. Through its pages we can share the glory of the great naval battles from the Armada to Midway, and the excitement of piracy on the high seas and the China clipper races. Great navigators, warships and weaponery, ship propulsion, commerce and trade, the navies of the world and the great ship disasters are all part of its absorbing variety of content. Book includes 465 colour and 355 b&w illustrations. As new condition. Djkt. Sml. split