The New York Times best-selling author of The Men Who United the States traces the geological history of the Pacific Ocean to assess its relationship with humans and indelible role in the modern world.

"On a moonless September night in 1962, 900 miles from land, Flying Tiger flight 923 began to fall apart at 21,000 feet. A crash was inevitable. Survival was impossible. Tiger in the Sea is the story of that harrowing flight"--

This maritime history "from below" exposes the history-making power of common sailors, slaves, pirates, and other outlaws at sea in the era of the tall ship. In Outlaws of the Atlantic, award-winning historian Marcus Rediker turns maritime history upside down. He explores the dramatic world of maritime adventure, not from the perspective of admirals, merchants, and nation-states but from the viewpoint of commoners-sailors, slaves, indentured servants,...

Putting our exploitation of the seas into historical context, Roberts offers a devastating account of the impact of modern fishing techniques, pollution, and climate change, and reveals what it would take to steer the right course while there is still time.

"Engineers of Victory" is a new account of how the tide was turned against the Nazis by the Allies in the Second World War, the focus being on the problem-solvers: Major-General Perry Hobart, who invented the "funny tanks" which flattened the curve on the D-Day beaches; Flight Lieutenant Ronnie Harker "the man who put the Merlin in the Mustang"; and Captain "Johnny" Walker, the convoy captain who worked out how to sink U-boats with a "creeping barrage"....

Blending history and anecdote, geography and reminiscence, science and exposition, the author of Krakatoa tells the breathtaking saga of the magnificent Atlantic Ocean, setting it against the backdrop of mankind's intellectual evolution. Until a thousand years ago, no humans ventured into the Atlantic or imagined traversing its vast infinity. But once the first daring mariners successfully navigated to far shores, whether it was the Vikings, the...

Introduction -- Building the legend -- The voyage begins -- Ship of dreams -- That fateful Sunday -- A deadly encounter -- To the lifeboats -- Death of a titan -- Rescue -- Aftermath -- Questions -- Discovery -- The Titanic legacy. A huge ocean liner, its lights blazing, its band playing, is slowly sinking in a calm sea. To most people this image evokes one name alone - the Titanic. Eighty years after this great maritime disaster the haunting saga...

"'Portolan charts,' so called from the Italian adjective portolano, meaning 'related to ports or harbours,' were born during the 12th century in the maritime community. These charts, drawn on parchment and crisscrossed with lines referring to the compass directions, indicated the succession of ports and anchorages along the shores, and were used by European sailors exploring the world up until the 18th century. Not only used as navigational instruments...