It's never too late to learn new stuff, even about shipwrecks. Like, for instance, I knew that things floating were flotsam; things deliberately thrown overboard were jetsam.
Born and educated in England, David Cressy has made his career in the United States as an historian of early modern Britain. He taught in the Claremont Colleges, California State University Long Beach, and the Ohio State University before retiring to write and travel. When not in British archives and libraries he may be found exploring the beaches and deserts of the American West.