The North Sea

A rollicking, surprising, often moving personal history of a big part of the British story that has long needed its own narrative. Page-turningly entertaining -- ANDREW MARR The North Sea is a rich and adventurous exploration of one of the great arenas of British history -- MICHAEL PALIN I enjoyed this enormously, the first full account of the North Sea, above the waves and below. It lends itself to the unique storytelling ability of Alistair Moffat -- GORDON BROWN My favourite kind of travel writing: lyrical prose but also endlessly fascinating stories that reminds us of the rich and deep history of our east coast and waters beyond. The North Sea is a beautiful book -- JAMES HOLLAND A delight - rigorously researched and hugely informative - a masterful telling of the stories of the sea that has shaped our island nation. I loved it. A perfect mix of personal and historical -- GAVIN ESLER From herring schools to holiday camps, naval fleets to soaring fulmars, Alistair Moffat charts this edgy sea in all its moods and surging magnificence. In prose as sparkling as summer wavelets, often zingily tanged with ozone and seaweed, the (veteran) traveller-historian brings the past to vivid life, painting a portrait of sea edge and coastal land, trawling through the bountiful blessings of a sea's fishy harvests and charting the wild terrors of its gathering storms -- JON GOWER Praise for Alistair Moffat: 'Thoughtful and wise * * Observer * * Moffat is a great storyteller and his stories are rich, full of interest * * Scotsman * * [Moffat] has the kind of eye that reads a landscape not just topographically but also historically * * Times Literary Supplement * * As admirable in its simplicity as it is daunting in its complexity . . . Moffat peers into the farther corners of history * * Herald * *