The one inescapable fact of living on an island is that islanders are are surrounded by sea. Over ninety percent of all goods that the Maltese consume on a daily basis have, at some point or other, travelled across some stretch of sea or other. This volume is divided in two sections. Four historical essays in Part I cover the maritime history of the Maltese Islands from the ancient period to the British era. Although set in chronological order, these essays may be read individually or in sequence. Part II of the volume is dedicated to maritime heritage. Essays contained in this section cover different aspects of Malta's maritime tradition - some hardly-known as well others which are presently considered as popular tradition. All chapters in this section provide extremely valuable contributions to the maritime cultural heritage of Malta and Gozo. This section of the book is also very well illustrated.