Book review: Fifty Ships that Changed the Course of History

But Ian Graham’s new book is more than a delight for lovers of the sea – it’s a history of the world told through the vessels that influenced how and where people lived, with whom they traded, the ideas they exchanged and how they won and lost the battles that set the course for later generations.

Of local interest, the book features Australian and New Zealand watercraft such as HMS Endeavour and the one-time Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior.

Others featured include Columbus’s Santa Maria, HMS Dreadnought, Thor Heyerdahl’s Kon-Tiki and cruise ship MS Allure of the Seas, with its own “Central Park” containing thousands of living trees and plants.

Beautifully illustrated with historic artwork and modern photography, the book is a guide to how we went to sea or down the river in every age and place.