Seafurrers

Description

While the many extraordinary exploits of the seafarers who mapped the world have been well documented, those of their indispensable pest controllers, shipmates, and mascots haven't - until now. In SEAFURRERS, Bart the seafaring feline provides us with a cat's-eye view of maritime history - starting in the Fertile Crescent and Nile Valley and ultimately hopping aboard the ships that set sail for the New World. Drawing on letters, journals, newspaper reports, photographs, and more, Bart acts as both curator and commentator, providing 40 tales of SEAFURRERS and their swashbuckling owners, including famous seamen such as Sir Richard Hawkins and John Locke. From the gut-wrenching math behind the damage rats could do on ships to the charming pleasures of chasing flying fish, Bart expertly crafts a portrait of feline life on deck, as well as a deft genealogy of cat-human friendship that is sure to leave readers with a newfound appreciation of the cats who helped us at sea, and whom we now helplessly serve at home in return.

Philippa Sandall is cocreator of seafurrers.com as well as editor of the University of Sydney Human Nutrition Unit's GI News newsletter, which has more than 120,000 subscribers worldwide. She is also co-author, with Jennie Brand-Miller, of several books in the New York Times bestselling New Glucose Revolution series. A longtime book editor, she now runs her own editorial consulting agency, Philippa Sandall Publishing Services, in New South Wales, Australia. Ad Long, an illustrator and author, illustrates for seafurrers.com. He recently published a crime novel, Too Greedy to Live, and is a regular commentator on The Guardian, where he shares his thoughts on such topics as religion, art, and politics. He lives in Sydney, Australia.