Just as the Romans built roads to create and maintain their empire, so the British ruled the ocean waves with ships, and created the biggest empire the world has seen.

The Last of a Salty Breed tells tales about British ships, seamen, and the many millions of folk who were voluntarily or forcibly shipped to the four corners of the world to create new countries.

This book takes a conventional, chronological narrative interspersed by interludes between the chapters. They are light-hearted or poignant in nature, in many cases highlighting the high and low points of seafaring, and the harrowing...