'The stories of these wrecks are fascinating and well told - even poetic. But it is what each tells us of the maritime world, naval history and the nature of warfare at sea that gives this selection its great interest and shows the erudition and intelligence of the author' Dr Oliver Walton, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

Sam Willis was awarded a PhD in Naval History for his thesis on Command and Tactics in the 18th-century Navy. He has lectured at Bristol University and at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, and consults on maritime painting for Christie's. Sam spent 18 months as a Square Rig Able Seaman, sailing the tall ships used in the Hornblower television series and Channel 4's award-winning film Shackleton, and is a consultant to the BBC's Coast. He is the author of Fighting at Sea in the Eighteenth Century: The Art of Sailing Warfare and the two-volume Fighting Ships series, covering 1750-1950.

Introduction. Ancient and Dark Age Wrecks: The Kyrenia Ship (c.300 BC); The Intan Ship (c.920); The Skuldelev Ships (c.1000). Galleons and Gold: The Mary Rose (19 July 1545); La Trinidad Valencera (26 September 1588); The Vasa (10 August 1628). Broadsides, Pirates and Whales: The Queen Anne's Revenge (May 1718); The Battle of Quiberon Bay (20 November 1759); La Meduse (17 July 1816); The Essex (20 November 1820). Iron, Steam and Steel: The H.L. Hunley (17 February 1864); The Titanic (14 April 1912); The Endurance (21 November 1915). World Wars: The Lusitania (7 May 1915); Scapa Flow (21 June 1919); USS Arizona (7 December 1941); The Wilhelm Gustloff (30 January 1945); USS Indianapolis (30 July 1945). Nuclear Power, Oil and the Atomic Bomb: The Nagato (29 July 1946); The Torrey Canyon (18 March 1967); The Kursk (12 August 2000). Index. Acknowledgements.