You know the history behind such iconic ships as the Mayflower, the HMS Beagle, the RMS Titanic. But what about the Fram, built to withstand the crushing ice encountered by early polar explorers? Or the HMS Dreadnought, which boasted such a revolutionary design it ignited an international arms race in battleship building. The Rainbow Warrior sailed the globe for thirty years on behalf of Greenpeace…until it was sabotaged by a bomb. From ancient Egyptian dhows to gargantuan twenty-first-century cruise ships, this artfully illustrated "nautical history of the world" navigates a fascinating armchair cruise through human history and culture. (KG)