Classic Stories of the Sea

by Harriet Sanders (editor)

For centuries, writers have been inspired by the sea, pitting man against nature in stories and novels. The allure of the sea is mighty, and here is a collection of classic adventure stories from writers such as Daniel Defoe, Joseph Conrad and C. S. Forester, whose protagonists must pit their wits against fierce oceans, terrifying storms and creatures of the deep.

Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, cloth-bound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover.

A young Hornblower is tested in a rare short story by C. S. Forester, a ship’s captain is gripped by a fatal desire to stay on course in 'Make Westing' by Jack London and terrifying sea monsters rear their heads in Rudyard Kipling’s 'A Matter of Fact'. An elderly captain saves the day in 'The Captain’s Arm' and 'The Open Boat' by Stephen Crane is an account of a nail-biting shipwreck.

Many of the writers chosen here are experienced sailors and seafarers themselves, bringing authenticity and realism to their own gripping tales.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories

215 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 11, 2024

Reviews

[Lucy]

This was a delightful collection of sea stories. I appreciated the preface from Harriet Sanders about the background of a lot of these writers, and the fact that she chose many writers that have long experience sailing, which gave all the stories a more concrete sea background. The stories were about a variety of things (being shipwrecked, haunted hands, man-eating rats) and that definitely helped with the pacing, even if it took me a little time to get into the writing style with the very descriptive sailing terms. Definitely a book I'm glad I picked up!

[Chiara Rizzarda]

A charming collection of tales on the sea in various forms, all delightful if a bit too heterogeneous for my taste. You go feom tales of sailors ("The Captain's Arm", "Hornblower and the Widow McCool") to tales in which the sea or the wind almost are characters ("The Open Boat" and "Make Westing"), from tales with sea creatures ("A Matter of Fact" and "The Mermaid") to tales where you almost have no sea at all ("Ninety Days"). And then you have "Three Skeleton Key", which is possibly the best story in the collection but it's full-on weird horror, and I find it uncalled far if not properly advertised.

[Delia Fuller]

Beautiful!

[Jack Goddard]

A great introduction for me to a lot of great authors.