Sailing Into the Past · Learning From Replica Ships

‘This is a book everyone should read. It is the autobiography of an ace, and no common ace either. The boy had all the noble tastes and qualities, love of beauty, soaring imagination, a brilliant endowment of good looks . . . this prince of pilots . . . had a charmed life in every sense of the word’ - George Bernard Shaw

Sent to France with the Royal Flying Corps at just seventeen, and later a member of the famous 56 Squadron, Cecil Lewis was an illustrious and passionate fighter pilot of the First World War, described by Bernard Shaw in 1935 as ‘a thinker, a master of words, and a bit of a poet’.

In this vivid and spirited account the author evocatively sets his love of the skies and flying against his bitter experience of the horrors of war, as we follow his progress from France and the battlefields of the Somme, to his pioneering defence of London against deadly night time raids.

Over the past generation, the building of accurate replicas of ships from the distant past has radically changed perceptions of our ancestors' sailing and voyaging. In this beautifully illustrated book, some of the world's leading authorities look at individual replicas and discuss what they have taught us. Each chapter deals with a particular vessel, and construction, sail plans, and roles are discussed, followed by an analysis of sailing performance. This fascinating work offers the most accessible view yet as to how the ships of our seafaring forbears affected the manner in which they traded, fought, and explored.