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Journalist and writer Sam Jefferson uncovers the true stories behind literary classics set on the oceans and great rivers. He reveals the fishing trip interrupted by sharks that inspired a key scene in Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, Stevenson’s cruise to the wilds of the South Seas that inspired scenes in Treasure Island, Conrad’s time as captain of a river steamer in The Congo that led to the Heart of Darkness, and the hardship experienced on whaling ships by Melville that led to Moby Dick.

Jefferson has a lifelong fascination with everything nautical and is one of the leading authorities on the clipper ship era and author of Clipper Ships and the Golden Age of Sail. He has worked as a passenger boat skipper on the Thames, has sailed across the world delivering yachts and has taught sailing in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.