The Ship Asunder: A Maritime History of Britain in Eleven Vessels

by Tom Nancollas

Maritime ancestors are common in British family trees, and if you have seafaring forebears then you may well be tempted to allow this author to share his stories with you. Nancollas uses eleven nautical relics to help explain how ships have evolved and, in turn, how they have shaped our maritime heritage. He begins with the prow of a Bronze Age vessel and ends with an anchor from the 20th century.

Amongst other stories in this pot-pourri of maritime history, the author considers the mysticism of ships’ figureheads, the practice of re-using an old vessel’s timbers to construct buildings, and the importance of shipping to the slave trade. In describing the history of ship propulsion, Nancollas utilises the propeller of RMS Lusitania rescued from its wreck on the seabed in the 1980s, and one mast of Brunel’s SS Great Eastern. By coincidence both of these survivors can be found in the city of Liverpool.

This is not a conventional history textbook: the author’s style is easy-going, but this means it is engaging and creates atmosphere. Each chapter is a complete tale in itself, but the successive chapters build to form an over-arching nautical narrative. The author concludes by asking how we should best memorialise our great ships and the legacy of our maritime ancestry.

• Published by Penguin Books Ltd (hardback) £20. ISBN: 9780241434147. SW