Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautifully bound pocket-sized gift editions of much loved classic titles. Bound in real cloth, printed on high quality paper, and featuring ribbon markers and gilt edges, Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.

For centuries, writers have been inspired by the sea, pitting man against nature in stories and novels. The allure of the sea is mighty, and here is a collection of classic adventure stories from writers such as Daniel Defoe, Joseph Conrad and C. S. Forester, whose protagonists must pit their wits against fierce oceans, terrifying storms and creatures of the deep.

A young Hornblower is tested in a rare short story by C. S. Forester, a ship's captain is gripped by a fatal desire to stay on course in 'Make Westing' by Jack London and terrifying sea monsters rear their heads in Rudyard Kipling's 'A Matter of Fact'. An elderly captain saves the day in 'The Captain's Arm' and 'The Open Boat' by Stephen Crane is an account of a nail-biting shipwreck.

Many of the writers chosen here are experienced sailors and seafarers themselves, bringing authenticity and realism to their own gripping tales.