From the Stone Age to the present day, no technology has had a more profound impact on mankind than watercraft. Boats and ships made possible the settlement and conquest of new worlds. They determined the victors of history-changing wars and aided the spread of new philosophies, technologies and religions. Even today, virtually everything we purchase and consume depends on seaborne trade.

Fifty Ships that Changed the Course of History is more than just a delight for lovers of the sea – it’s a virtual history of the world told through the boats and ships that influenced how and where people lived, the ideas they exchanged and how they won and lost the battles that set the course of later generations and millennia. Beautifully illustrated with art and photographs, it is a guide to how men and women went to sea in every age and place.