Stockholm, home to the author and also known as "Beauty on the Sea," has much to offer, including a rare insight into ship construction and architecture in the early seventeenth century. Sweden was busy building an empire around the Baltic Sea in northern Europe and a strong navy was essential. During the I620s Sweden was at war with Poland, and in 1625 the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus ordered new warships, among them the Vasa. The Vasa was built at the Stockholm shipyard by Henrik Hybertsson-an experi enced Dutch shipbuilder. In the seventeenth century, however, architectural draw ings and...