Deep-end sirens

This exhaustive collection of maritime facts and fables provides definitive accounts of seaborne tales, from Moses’ parting of the Red Sea to the Bermuda Triangle. Peter Jeans explores the gamut of watery legends -- from selkies and sirens to Jonah and Moby Dick.

Besides lore, Jeans chronicles notable seagoing feats, such as John Caldwell’s 9,000-mile navigation of the Pacific from Panama to Australia in 1945 on a 29-foot yacht. Caldwell accomplished his 18-month journey with no boating experience, accompanied only by a book on sailing and two kittens. After the sloshing in these pages, armchair salty dogs may find themselves standing up on sea legs.

-- Michael Koehn