Before the development of canals, railways or metalled roads, the quickest and most effective means of transporting goods from one point to another in Britain was by the use of coastal shipping, shallow-draught boats travelling between the ports of the British Isles. With the development and improvement of the canals, railways and especially the road network, however, coastal shipping in the UK has decreased dramatically.

In this book, maritime author Ian Collard takes a look at the history of coastal shipping in the UK, examining a selection of the ships used to transport so much cargo and so many passengers across the English Channel, the Irish Sea, the Solent and along the west coast of Scotland, among other places.