Tristan Jones's nostalgic memoir of his early years in Wales and on the arduous "sail-in-trade" of northern Europe glows warmly with many charming reminiscences of the lost Welsh countryside - a corner of the world largely untouched by the 20th century, where chantey-singing sailors fought the weather to transport bricks, coal, and even animals around the world.

An incredibly vivid evocation of a legendary man's remarkable coming of age, A Steady Trade captures the sights, sounds, and smells of the sea.