The vast Pacific Ocean has been sailed by ships from the west for many centuries. They have carried explorers, adventurers, traders, whalers, pirates, privateers and immigrants. This book is primarily about these ships and their evolution, from the tiny carracks used by Magellan in 1520 until steam had mostly outmoded sail in the twentieth century. Roger Morris is a maritime artist of international repute as well as a professional seaman of broad experience. He is fascinated by the design and operation of sailing ships from the earliest times. The carefully researched information and detailed, accurate paintings which make up this book come from the amalgamation of this author-artist's unique skills and experiences. Since Magellan, the Pacific has been navigated by ships of many types. Roger Morris has made a representative selection, setting them in their true environments. He also gives prominence to some of the less well-known Pacific voyages and explorers. With brush and pen he takes us into a world of sea, wind, sun and storm. We discover how, through the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Spanish galleons wallowed yearly from Acapulco to Manila and back. We sail with the explorers of the eighteenth century, and in the radical new ships of the nineteenth century which were developed to cope with the trade resulting from industrial revolution in Europe, gold finds in the New World, and immigration. We race with the first clippers to California; make passages in the powerful iron and wooden immigrant ships easting down to Australia and returning with wool; accompany the nitrate carriers, representing the peak experience life aboard humble barques, trading schooners and scows.