THE WRECKERS
by Bella Bathurst

The Wreckers examines the myths, the realities, and the superstitions of shipwrecks and uncovers the darker side of life on Britain's shores. Many coastal communities regarded the "sea's bounty" as an impromptu way of providing themselves with everything from grapefruits to grand pianos. Some plunderers were held to be so skilled that they could strip a ship from stem to stern before the Coast Guard had even left port. Some were rumored to lure ships onto the rocks with false lights, and some simply waited for winter gales to do their work. The Wreckers covers a three hundred year history of ships and shipwrecks so terrible that few participants survived the morning, of humble homes fitted with silver candelabra, of coastlines rigged like stage sets, and of villages where everyone owns identical tennis shoes. HC, 2005, 288 Pgs, SW 1.0 llb.