'When Alan Villiers visited Melbourne docks as a boy at the beginning of the last century and dreamed of sailing away, commercial sailing ships were still the main means of getting goods from one continent to another and large square-riggers could be seen in every major ort. By the time of his death in 1982, only a handful remained. But the memory of those ships persists, to a large degree thanks to Villiers himself, who dedicated his life to sharing his passion for those magnificent vessels, documenting their passing era with both words and images - and always spinning a good yarn.
Using Villiers' own journal and private notebooks, Kate Lance takes a close look at the complex, often conflicted man behind countless classic seafaring books and articles. She skilfully interweaves Villiers' personal story with that of commercial sail, exploring issues such as the presence of women on square-rigged ships, the Allied sea operations during the Second World War and the politics of ship preservation and reconstruction. Most importantly, however, she takes the reader on a captivating, fulfilling journey with one of the most accomplished adventurers of the twentieth century.' (Publisher's Blurb)
Author's note: Villiers' diaries contain outdated nomenclature, random British or American spelling and occasional errors. For authenticity and readability I have left quotations as they appear in the diaries, without indicating his variations by '[sic]' except in potentially confusing cases. However, an ellipsis '...', which means omitted text or a significant pause, is shown as '...[sic]' where Villiers himself has used it for significance. The other instances occurring in the book indicate text I have omitted for brevity, and appear simply as '...'.
