The author delves into the early part of this century to discover why the sea has always been such a lure, and why such romance has grown up around it when conditions on board were truly appalling for the men, and little better for the officers. First-hand accounts describe the hardships of the life of a seafarer, both in peacetime and at war, contrasting the experiences and treatment of men from 1900 to the present. He charts this dramatic decline in the fortunes of the British fleet, both merchant and naval, and examines the psychological and economic implications for Britain, accustomed as she once was to "ruling the waves".