Eight Bells and Top Masts

The late 1950s, twilight years of the British Empire, saw the end of the era of the 'tramp steamer' - coal-burning merchant ships that 'tramped' from port to port in the days before bulk carriers, hunting for any cargo that needed hauling to any place.In this marvelous memoir Christopher Lee offers the diaries of a 'Lad' much like himself who, at the age of 17, took his first job aboard the tramp ...