For over five centuries, the English Channel's eastern approaches have been the busiest stretch of sea in the world. The route from London and the ports of northern Europe has seen more shipwrecks than almost any other part of the coastline and the area is well known for its shifting sands, narrow sea lanes and rapidly changing weather patterns. From the Goodwin Sands to the offshore hazards of northern France and Belgium, these sandbanks have caused many a ship to founder.

Calamity Corner illustrates just how this stretch of coast, on both sides of the Channel, is so treacherous and gives us an idea of the sheer number of ships that have been lost here in the past few centuries, and tragedies, as well as triumphs of man over nature. Anthony Lane gives a truly local flavour to the maritime disasters from Kent through Sussex and the French and Belgian coasts where the North Sea funnels into the narrow English Channel.