This book takes a comprehensive look at the ships of all ages, from dugout canoes to Nelson’s ships-of-the-line, from great battleships and ocean liners to today’s most sophisticated container ships, aircraft carriers and supertankers. Intertwined with the history of ships and the men who sailed them is the story of the technological, political and economic developments that have shaped the evolution of nautical vessels, which Woodman succinctly places within their proper contexts, creating one of the most fascinating histories of man as inventor, trader and warrior ever written. Filled with hundreds of illustrations, this is an essential reference for the history buff, the ship modeler and the nautical-book collector.