Excerpt from Memorials of the Goodwin Sands: And Their Surroundings, Legendary and Historical In a great commercial country like England it is perhaps only natural to suppose that anything and everything concerning her ships, her sailors, and her commerce would be a source of much interest to, at least, a fairly large section of the community. It was therefore thought that a sketch might not be altogether unacceptable embracing the history, legendary as well as accredited, of a singular region which for centuries has been only too celebrated as the most dangerous spot on the British coasts, and which is known to have been, and indeed still is, the "grave of many a tall and stately ship," together with its crew and cargo. Nothing of the kind, so far as the writer is aware, has hitherto ever been attempted; for, excepting short notices in county histories, encyclopaedias, gazetteers, guide books, and in Mr. Whymper's work on 'The Sea, ' the famous "Goodwins" have never yet been made the subject of any complete account dealing historically with the Sands, and the remarkable events of which their immediate surroundings have been so often the theatre during the last eight hundred years. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."

'The oceans are the graveyards of the lands.' Lands become eaten away by the action of the seas, and it is no surprise to find that most of the world's shorelines are in a state of erosion. The fringes of Britain, its cliffs and beaches, are shrinking, disappearing into the surrounding sea as a result of coastal flooding, erosion and landsliding. Is climate change speeding up the process; are our homes, our villages and towns, at risk? This book examines how the British coast is changing and why - and what is being done to protect this island nation. Are we doing enough? Should we abandon vulnerable towns and villages to the seas as our forebears did and relocate coastal settlements inland? These are some of the difficult and potentially emotive questions that this book explores. Blending contemporary earth science and societal themes with historical and cultural records, and a hint of myth and romance for good measure, This Shrinking Land is a fascinating study of what we must learn from the past in order to manage the future of Britain's coasts. With more than 100 illustrations, most of them in colour, this is a stunning book.