The Royal National Lifeboat Institution was established in 1824 and has a long and proud tradition of saving life at sea. Today, the volunteer lifeboat crews on the coasts of Cornwall, North Devon and Somerset operate high-tech state-of-the-art lifeboats in their work of saving lives at sea. The RNLI currently operates twenty-one lifeboat stations around the South West and Bristol Channel, including the newest RNLI station to be opened at Portishead. This comprehensive book has details of every one, with information about their history, rescues and current lifeboats. It also includes details of old stations that have been closed, as well as some of the dramatic, courageous and daring rescues undertaken by the lifeboat crews from the region.

Author Nicholas Leach has amassed a wealth of information about the lifeboats and lifeboat stations of the West Country, past and present, visiting every one to provide a complete and up-to-date record of life-saving in the seas off this picturesque but often dangerous coastline.