The first volume covers a time span from antiquity to the late Eighteenth Century and has been written by more than 30 contributors from university and other research institutions in Britain and overseas. All the chapters are based on research in both national and local archives and are highly readable; the topics include coastal geology and topography, ports and seafaring, fishing, overseas and coastal trade, shipbuilding and shipowning, cartography and navigation, exploration and colonisation, piracy and privateering, coastal fortification and naval strategy and, not least, the Navy and the establishment of Devonport Dockyard. This superb volume, illustrated with paintings, drawings, prints, maps and artefacts, is a classic work of maritime history of equal significance for those beyond the borders of Devon as for those who live within its confines.