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Fish have been a lifelong obsession for Richard Shelton. As a boy in the 1940s, he was fascinated by what he found in the streams near his Buckinghamshire home. But it was the sea and the creatures living in it and by it which were to become his passion. The Longshoreman follows the author from stream to river, from pond to lake and loch, from shore to deep sea, on a journey from childhood to an adulthood spent in boats in conditions fair and foul. Along the way, this wonderful book introduces us to strange characters and the intimate habits of lobsters; it also explains what it's like to be... more Fish have been a lifelong obsession for Richard Shelton. As a boy in the 1940s, he was fascinated by what he found in the streams near his Buckinghamshire home. But it was the sea and the creatures living in it and by it which were to become his passion. The Longshoreman follows the author from stream to river, from pond to lake and loch, from shore to deep sea, on a journey from childhood to an adulthood spent in boats in conditions fair and foul. Along the way, this wonderful book introduces us to strange characters and the intimate habits of lobsters; it also explains what it's like to be a lantern fish; how some fish commute between the surface and the darkest depths, when the laws of physics say they should be crushed to death; and the fate of the wild salmon, that heroic fish whose future is now imperilled by its farmed relatives. less 
Philip MarsdenLet’s talk about Longshoreman by Richard Shelton. A lovely, personal book. He’s a marine scientist, and the great thing about marine scientists as he shows in this book is that they really have to get their hands dirty. Quite a lot of it is in laboratories, but an awful lot, too, is on ships trawling things up. Just being at sea. What I love too is the source of his fascination, as a boy, playing... (Source)
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Throughout the chronicle of Britain's history, one factor above all others has determined the fate of kings, the security of trade, and the integrity of the realm. Without its navy, Britain would have been a weakling among the nations of Europe, could never have built or maintained the empire, and in all likelihood would have been overrun by the armies of Napoleon and Hitler. Now, for the first time in nearly a century, a prominent naval historian has undertaken a comprehensive account of the history and traditions of this most essential institution. N. A. M. Rodger has produced a superb... more Throughout the chronicle of Britain's history, one factor above all others has determined the fate of kings, the security of trade, and the integrity of the realm. Without its navy, Britain would have been a weakling among the nations of Europe, could never have built or maintained the empire, and in all likelihood would have been overrun by the armies of Napoleon and Hitler. Now, for the first time in nearly a century, a prominent naval historian has undertaken a comprehensive account of the history and traditions of this most essential institution. N. A. M. Rodger has produced a superb work, combining scholarship with narrative, that demonstrates how the political and social history of Britain has been inextricably intertwined with the strength-or weakness-of her seapower. From the early military campaigns against the Vikings to the defeat of the great Spanish Armada in the reign of Elizabeth I, this volume touches on some of the most colorful characters in British history. It also provides fascinating details on naval construction, logistics, health, diet, and weaponry. "A splendid book. It combines impressively detailed research with breadth of perception....[Rodger] has prepared an admirable historical record that will be read and reread in the years ahead."—Times [London] less See more recommendations for this book...
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Seven-Tenths is James Hamilton-Paterson's classic exploration of the sea. A beautifully-written blend of literature and science, it is here brought back into print in a revised and updated edition which includes the acclaimed essay Sea Burial. more Seven-Tenths is James Hamilton-Paterson's classic exploration of the sea. A beautifully-written blend of literature and science, it is here brought back into print in a revised and updated edition which includes the acclaimed essay Sea Burial. less Philip MarsdenYes. This is a much more recent book, but you find the same themes. Hamilton-Paterson’s life has been peppered with maritime journeys, and when he thought, “I want to do a book about the sea” he came up against the usual problem – the sheer scale of his subject. It’s a wonderfully baffling book. There’s a lovely opening passage of a swimmer – presumably him – diving down through the water. It’s a... (Source)
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From "The Saturday Review," Vol. 102:
In a manner Mr. Conrad's book marks an epoch, since it is written in praise of ships, by a man who has sailed them, whose style and shapes shall be sailed no more. It is, as it were, a last chanty sung to those proud canvas wings by which England clove her way to power: to her mastery of the seas and then to the wealth of them. Mr. Conrad's day was after that of the sailed fighting ships, its significance lies in its coincidence with the dying out of the type of men and the stamp of spirit which manned them; with the gradual transference of our... more From "The Saturday Review," Vol. 102:
In a manner Mr. Conrad's book marks an epoch, since it is written in praise of ships, by a man who has sailed them, whose style and shapes shall be sailed no more. It is, as it were, a last chanty sung to those proud canvas wings by which England clove her way to power: to her mastery of the seas and then to the wealth of them. Mr. Conrad's day was after that of the sailed fighting ships, its significance lies in its coincidence with the dying out of the type of men and the stamp of spirit which manned them; with the gradual transference of our sea-borne trade from the hands of islanders to those of aliens...
Of the change, and its menace to our dominion of the seas, Mr. Conrad is acutely and regretfully conscious. Looking in that mirror of the sea he can discern one altered face, the face of a people disinclined for discomfort, unstirred by the promise of great adventure, no longer inspired by the future, inflating itself contentedly by the fireside with the memories of its achievements while others slip in unobserved to steal the reins of power out of its indolent hands. With the passing of the sailing ship has passed, or is passing, the manner of men who sailed her, men to whom the ceaseless, unrelenting struggle with the sea was a joy and a glory as well as a trade, who faced the implacable oceans, the inexorable winds, as knights of old faced an enemy, praying that he might be worthy of their valor and address.
These men it was who gave us the command of the sea, because no other country could produce them of the same kind or in like quantity. France, Spain and the Netherlands, despite their splendid seamen, had to succumb at last, not to our guns nor to our money, but to the stuff we bred and could go on breeding. Now there is no more demand for it. That stuff, of which Mr. Conrad is a typical example, looks on the dirt, the unloveliness, the dull certainty of steaming with more than a landsman's disgust. Steam and iron have robbed the sea of its romance, as villainous saltpeter robbed knight-errantry. The equalizing up, or down, of ability has reduced soldiering and seamanship to a journeyman's trade, which anyone may master with application, and the born seaman has to look elsewhere for his adventure, and his species is forsaking the sea-shore.
It is this change which makes Mr. Conrad's book mark an epoch, for no one could better express the mingled tenderness and resolution of the old spirit. "It is a serious relation," he says, "that in which a man stands to his ship," which he "shall learn to know with an intimacy surpassing the intimacy of man with man, to love with a love nearly as great as that of man for woman, and often as blind in its infatuated disregard of defects." He feels that love so finely that he hates to see a ship in dock "shut off from freedom . . . hunted about from wharf to wharf on a dark, greasy, square pool of black water as a brutal reward at the end of a faithful voyage," and feels it so deeply that the treachery of the sea is for him rather to the ship than to the men who sink with her. And this detached point of view, this romantic thinking, he extends to all things of the sea. He remembers gales by their human physiognomies; by their dignified austerity, by their woebegone misery, their catastrophic splendor, their draped mystery, their ominous menace; some as ghouls bent on sucking your strength away, some as wild cats clawing at your vitals. He thinks of the great winds as benignant or malignant rulers, and in describing them indulges occasionally in that adjectival profusion which sometimes detracts from the effect of his fine prose, which, at its best, will bear comparison with anything in the language. His skill as a story-teller may be found in every chapter, but especially in the history of "The Tremolino ." It is a tale that R. L. Stevenson would have loved to tell in just the same fashion. less Philip MarsdenYes, Conrad, The Mirror of the Sea – which again suggests the inscrutable blankness – in this case reflecting man back at himself. It was his first memoir, written in 1906, and a bit like Melville he was drawing on personal experience. Conrad was a sailor and of course the sea is the context for many of his stories, but I was particularly interested in this non-fiction book. He’s fascinated by... (Source)
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5
Journey to the heart of the sea with this larger-than-life classic.
Regarded as a Great American Novel, "Moby Dick" is the ultimate tale of seeking vengeance.
Narrated by the crew member Ishmael, this epic whaling adventure follows the crew of the "Pequod," as its captain, Ahab, descends deeper and deeper into madness on his quest to find and kill the white whale that maimed him. Beyond the surface--of ship life, whaling, and the hunt for the elusive Moby Dick--are allegorical references to life--and even the universe--in this masterpiece by Herman Melville.
more Journey to the heart of the sea with this larger-than-life classic.
Regarded as a Great American Novel, "Moby Dick" is the ultimate tale of seeking vengeance.
Narrated by the crew member Ishmael, this epic whaling adventure follows the crew of the "Pequod," as its captain, Ahab, descends deeper and deeper into madness on his quest to find and kill the white whale that maimed him. Beyond the surface--of ship life, whaling, and the hunt for the elusive Moby Dick--are allegorical references to life--and even the universe--in this masterpiece by Herman Melville.
Complete and unabridged, this elegantly designed clothbound edition features an elastic closure and a new introduction by Christopher McBride. less 
Steve JobsJobs told me that "Moby-Dick" was among his favorite books and he reread it a lot when he was a teen. (Source)
Barack ObamaAccording to the president’s Facebook page and a 2008 interview with the New York Times, this title is among his most influential forever favorites. (Source)
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