Being aboard a sinking ship is perhaps the most terrifying experience a human being can endure. Imagine those last peaceful moments as the vessel beneath you slides quickly into the dark waters that only moments before you had so confidently glided across.

It is as one survivor you will read about in this stunning collection recalled, a sudden sickening sense of disaster.

Awaiting you are starvation, thirst and unimagined weather–perhaps blistering sun or soul-crushing cold. Outside your leaking and fragile craft are circling sharks waiting to tear you to shreds. Hope will fade quickly.

Utterly absorbing and eminently entertaining, here is a collection of inspirational stories of life and death and hope-and of resilience and unimagined strength.

These stories show more than anything the indomitable spirit of sailors who scoffed at death and moved on-doing what they had to do to live.

Among the tales in this terrifying yet absorbing collection are the recollections of sailors from the USS Indianapolis who floated hopelessly as their companions were torn apart by sharks; of the crew whaleship Essex, who did the unthinkable; of small boat adventurers like Dougal Robertson, who survived for weeks on little but faith.

The Greatest Sea Survival Stories Ever Told is a tribute to incredible men and women. It is a testament to the remarkable fortitude that made them quiet heroes.