The North Sea Along the Edge of Britain
- 6 Nov 2025
- 9781837261222
- £20
- 352 pp
- 159×240mm
- 5 Nov 2026
- 9781837261369
- £12.99
- 352 pp
- 129×198mm
- 6 Nov 2025
- 9781837261239
- £15.99
- 352 pp
In a few words
Renowned historian Alistair Moffat traces the windswept story of the North Sea throughout British history and examines how it has shaped who we are and how we see ourselves
In a few words
Renowned historian Alistair Moffat traces the windswept story of the North Sea throughout British history and examines how it has shaped who we are and how we see ourselves
In a few words
Renowned historian Alistair Moffat traces the windswept story of the North Sea throughout British history and examines how it has shaped who we are and how we see ourselves
A rollicking, surprising, often moving personal history of a big part of the British story that has long needed its own narrative. Page-turningly entertaining
Andrew Marr
The North Sea is a rich and adventurous exploration of one of the great arenas of British history
Michael Palin
A rollicking, surprising, often moving personal history of a big part of the British story that has long needed its own narrative. Page-turningly entertaining
Andrew Marr
The North Sea is a rich and adventurous exploration of one of the great arenas of British history
Michael Palin
A rollicking, surprising, often moving personal history of a big part of the British story that has long needed its own narrative. Page-turningly entertaining
Andrew Marr
The North Sea is a rich and adventurous exploration of one of the great arenas of British history
Michael Palin
More about
the book
The North Sea, a maritime highway and the edge of a nation of islanders with a proud sea-faring past. Running from Kent and the Rhine estuary to the Norwegian coast and the tip of the Shetland islands, it has been home to warring tribes, foreign invaders, lost civilisations and holidaymakers. Its history spans millennia, since a seismic shift sent land retreating and water rushing in. Today, the North Sea continues to rise, claiming land mass as the east coast crumbles and sinks.
In The North Sea, renowned historian Alistair Moffat spends a year travelling its shores to better understand our relationship to the sea. He takes us on an epic, sweeping history from the Kentish coast to flooded homes, crossing wild fenland and Brexit fault lines, visiting well-worn seaside towns and windswept island monasteries.
The story he tells is one of newcomers and the mark they left, of Roman invasions, the arrival of the Saxons and the Viking raids. But it is also a story of those they met, of Pictish citadels and Orcadian stone circles. It is a story of technological advancement, of submarine engineering and weather forecasting. It is a story of huge industry, from whaling expeditions and fishing trawlers to the boom of North Sea oil and offshore wind farms. This is the story of how the North Sea shaped us and will continue to do so; it is above all a story of insistent, inescapable change.
More about
the book
‘A rollicking, surprising, often moving personal history’ ANDREW MARR
‘Wonderfully descriptive, knowledgeable and concise’ Scotsman
‘The first full account of the North Sea, above the waves and below’ GORDON BROWN
This is the epic, sweeping history of our shores and our relationship to the sea. It’s a story of newcomers and the mark they left. It is a story of warring tribes, foreign invaders, lost civilisations and holidaymakers. But it is also a story of huge technological advancement and industry: of submarine engineering and weather forecasting, of whaling expeditions, fishing trawlers and offshore wind farms. From renowned historian, Alistair Moffat, this is the story of how the North Sea shaped us and will continue to do so; it is above all a story of insistent, inescapable change.
More about
the book
The North Sea, a maritime highway and the edge of a nation of islanders with a proud sea-faring past. Running from Kent and the Rhine estuary to the Norwegian coast and the tip of the Shetland islands, it has been home to warring tribes, foreign invaders, lost civilisations and holidaymakers. Its history spans millennia, since a seismic shift sent land retreating and water rushing in. Today, the North Sea continues to rise, claiming land mass as the east coast crumbles and sinks.
In The North Sea, renowned historian Alistair Moffat spends a year travelling its shores to better understand our relationship to the sea. He takes us on an epic, sweeping history from the Kentish coast to flooded homes, crossing wild fenland and Brexit fault lines, visiting well-worn seaside towns and windswept island monasteries.
The story he tells is one of newcomers and the mark they left, of Roman invasions, the arrival of the Saxons and the Viking raids. But it is also a story of those they met, of Pictish citadels and Orcadian stone circles. It is a story of technological advancement, of submarine engineering and weather forecasting. It is a story of huge industry, from whaling expeditions and fishing trawlers to the boom of North Sea oil and offshore wind farms. This is the story of how the North Sea shaped us and will continue to do so; it is above all a story of insistent, inescapable change.
I enjoyed this enormously, the first full account of the North Sea, above the waves and below. It lends itself to the unique storytelling ability of Alistair Moffat
Gordon Brown
Wonderfully descriptive, knowledgeable and concise . . . History has become so specialised that we sometimes lose sight of its sweep. This has always been one of the great strengths of Moffat’s writing and this book is no different. Sociable polymaths like him are a rare breed, but for books like this, an indispensable one
Moffat’s thesis is that the North Sea made modern Britain, and he ranges widely in arguing for it. We’re swept from the earliest migrations to our shores to Thatcher’s privatisation of oil; along the way, there’s swashbuckling, fish, nostalgic fun and plenty of interesting trivia [ . . . ] Moffat shows real literary skill
A fascinating account of invasions and citadels, of whaling, oil booms and wind farms
I enjoyed this enormously, the first full account of the North Sea, above the waves and below. It lends itself to the unique storytelling ability of Alistair Moffat
Gordon Brown
Wonderfully descriptive, knowledgeable and concise . . . History has become so specialised that we sometimes lose sight of its sweep. This has always been one of the great strengths of Moffat’s writing and this book is no different. Sociable polymaths like him are a rare breed, but for books like this, an indispensable one
Moffat’s thesis is that the North Sea made modern Britain, and he ranges widely in arguing for it. We’re swept from the earliest migrations to our shores to Thatcher’s privatisation of oil; along the way, there’s swashbuckling, fish, nostalgic fun and plenty of interesting trivia [ . . . ] Moffat shows real literary skill
A fascinating account of invasions and citadels, of whaling, oil booms and wind farms
I enjoyed this enormously, the first full account of the North Sea, above the waves and below. It lends itself to the unique storytelling ability of Alistair Moffat
Gordon Brown
Wonderfully descriptive, knowledgeable and concise . . . History has become so specialised that we sometimes lose sight of its sweep. This has always been one of the great strengths of Moffat’s writing and this book is no different. Sociable polymaths like him are a rare breed, but for books like this, an indispensable one
Moffat’s thesis is that the North Sea made modern Britain, and he ranges widely in arguing for it. We’re swept from the earliest migrations to our shores to Thatcher’s privatisation of oil; along the way, there’s swashbuckling, fish, nostalgic fun and plenty of interesting trivia [ . . . ] Moffat shows real literary skill
A fascinating account of invasions and citadels, of whaling, oil booms and wind farms
Featured in
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Canongate will publish award-winning writer and renowned historian Alistair Moffat’s latest book, The North Sea , in hardback and ebook in November 2025, with a paperback to follow. It is Moffat’s fifth book with Canongate and it will follow his journey from the Thames valley
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