High Seas: Stories of Life and Death from the Age of Sail

This is one of the stongest volumes the series has produced. It delivers what it promises - stories of battle and adventure. You will think you are aboard ship feeling the spray. Great selections - the nonfiction is riveting and the fiction is so strong that it's hard to remember that it's fiction, which it may not be entirely - most of the writers were seamen in their youth and it shows. The selections are well-chosen in that they are closed-ended; you don't feel like you are left hanging at the finish. And as I've said before about this series, the best books- - like this one - leave you looking for the source volumes to read in their entirety. A thick volume as well - this one's over 375 pages. You can even pick up some education when you aren't looking. This one's a great gift even if the recipient doesn't have any other books in the series.