Masefield, the poet, is here a seaman, telling a stark realistic story of the sea in real windjammer language. It seems to be factual in the same way Mutiny on the Bounty was factual, recording the voyage and wreck of the Clipper Blackgauntlet; the salvage by her survivors of The Bird of Dawning, abandoned in mid ocean by a fanatical skipper and the race home of the China Tea Fleet. There is a glorious picture of three tall ships thundering up the channel ahead of a roaring westerly, with every rag of canvas set, that will thrill the most blase armchair navigator. I class it with the best sea stories of all time. (Kirkus Reviews) Originally written in 1933, this classic sea adventure tells of the Blackgauntlet and her homeward-bound race from China to London. Disaster strikes when the becalmed tea-clipper Blackgauntlet is struck at night by a passing steamship. Half of the crew manage to escape by lifeboat; the rest perish. Cruiser, the 22-year old second mate who has always longed to be captain, takes command. Sharks, mutiny and the most unpredictable threat of all, the sea herself, are the challenges for Cruiser and his crew. About the Author John Masefield (1878-1967) was Poet Laureate of Great Britain from 1930 until his death. He is famous for writing about the sea, and is also the author of children's classics such as The Box of Delights.