A hilarious, biting satire of the United States and its unpredictable leader from the best-selling author of The Circle

The grand ship Glory has been skilfully captained for years, but when its well-loved old skipper decides to step down, a new leader thrusts himself forward and a new era begins.

The new Captain is vulgar, bumbling and inexplicably confident. With no knowledge of nautical navigation or maritime law - nor even, as he has repeatedly remarked, a particular liking for boats - he solemnly swears to shake things up.

Together with his band of petty thieves and confidence men known as the Upskirt Boys, the Captain enthralls his passengers: writing his dreams and notions on the cafeteria whiteboard, boasting of his exemplary anatomy, devouring cheeseburgers, and tossing anyone who dissatisfies him overboard.

Until one day a famous pirate, long feared by passengers of the Glory but revered by the Captain for how phenomenally masculine he looks without a shirt while riding a horse, appears on the horizon . . .

Sealink's antecedents go back to the packet boats of the days before steam. The invention of the steam engine greatly assisted the development of the railways and led to the growth of the packet boats. The private railway companies recognised the need for an integrated transport system which included operating services across the sea routes. The Big Four railway companies were nationalised in 1948 and their shipping services came under the control of the British Transport ommission. In 1968 a Shipping and International Services Division of the British Railways Board was formed. This separate division operated under the brand name of Sealink. In 1979 the assets of the Shipping and International Services Division were transferred to Sealink UK Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary company. With a wealth of previously unpublished images, Ian Collard tells the fascinating story of this unique shipping company.