In the days of sailing ships, the waters off Britain's south-western coast were among the most treacherous in the world with tidal currents, submerged rocks, storms and murky depths. Thousands of ships were lost there over the centuries.

From Cornwall and the remote Isles of Scilly, four generations of the Gibson family documented these shipwrecks in photographs, creating a unique archive of an era when seafaring meant risking one's life.

This magnificent book is the largest ever created on the outstanding collection of pictures of the Gibson Family, with almost 100 exceptional images presented as never before alongside text by Carl Douglas Bjorn Hagberg. The result is a work that conveys mankind's struggle against the elements - and the extraordinary efforts to save lives. This book is published in co-operation with the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, that holds the unique Gibson collection.