Using the five main rivers of Essex as a framework, it dives into many aspects of the maritime world and its history, taking the reader on an unpredictable and fascinating journey from the lost world of Doggerland and the development of modern humans, to yacht building on the River Colne. With stories from the age-old tradition of smuggling to the secret building and mysterious disappearance of a pocket submarine at Wivenhoe.

Essex is edged with mudflats and saltmarsh, marginal spaces tht are neither sea nor land. That sense of an unclear boundary is a recurring theme in this exploration of maritime history, in which creatures half-fish and half-animal were thought to haunt the oceans and the bed of the North Sea was once an inhabited country.

This unusual book takes you on a glorious and unpredictable journey from prehistory through to the end of the great days of sail, when the railways and the diesel engine changed the world forever.

The author lives in Norfolk and has a fascination with the North Sea coast. her lifelong passion for traditional sail, her love of sketching and her abiding interest in history have combined to produce this delightful and engaging book.

Judith Ellis