'...a splendid example of narrative nonfiction, a literary form that in skilful hands combines the attraction of a compelling novel with the education of an engrossing history'' Naval History Magazine What is the greatest maritime disaster of all time? In her remarkable collection of stories, Jean Hood certainly challenges the popular belief that Titanic should hold that title. Dramatic and enthralling, the common theme throughout is the strength of human character - or lack of it - that reveals itself when people are placed in the most appalling and incredible circumstances. Read about the crowded emigrant liner whose officers abandoned her after striking a reef; the captain of an unseaworthy ferry who refused to put back to Liverpool because he would have had to refund the fares; the inexperienced frigate captain who entrusted his ship to a passenger and whose voyage ended in cannibalism and national scandal. Yet for every instance of cruelty, criminal negligence and bad luck, there is another of courage, leadership, humanity and resourcefulness. The French fisherman who swam for almost a mile through the wild tide to try and help a stranded convict ship; the captain who stole international headlines by remaining aboard a doomed cargo ship in mountainous seas; the crew of a dismasted timber carrier who suffered for more than a month in the bitter North Atlantic winter; the U-boat which went to the rescue of those whose ship she had just sunk.