First published in 1987, this text has been revised for a student and non-specialist readership. It provides an authoritative and comprehensive survey of water transport across Northern Europe from the Late Palaeolithic to the later Middle Ages using a variety of primary sources and excavations. The book starts with general chapters on types of transport, aspects of naval architectural theory and on the materials of boat construction, then considers the methods of building boats in early North-West Europe and ends with detailed discussion of how these boats were used and navigated. This revised edition now contains a 4000-word postscript commenting briefly on maritime archaeology since 1987.