Mark Lardas is the author of numerous books on maritime and Texas history. A longtime resident of Texas, he has maintained an interest in the Texas maritime history, including shipwrecks. With generous assistance from and in cooperation with the Institute of Nautical Archeology at Texas A&M University, and numerous museums throughout the state of Texas, he has pulled together a fascinating collection of images to illustrate Texas's maritime history as seen from its shipwrecks from Cabeza de Vaca's first shipwreck in 1528 through the 21st century.