Meren kirja

The book surveys seafaring history from primitive dugouts and indigenous craft to modern steamships and armored dreadnoughts, describing boat construction, sail types, shipyards, and crew life. It follows major maritime phases — Viking expeditions, medieval port cultures, the age of discovery, the Armada and Trafalgar, the rise of merchant fleets, the shift from sail to steam and iron, submarines, and twentieth-century naval engagements — and treats piracy, polar exploration, and technological and social changes that shaped navigation and maritime warfare, while reflecting on explorers’ drive and the seafaring way of life.