TALES OF THE SEA

Twenty-two classic stories, poems, and reminiscences celebrating the sea's danger and grandeur, anchored by selections as familiar as Matthew Arnold's ``Dover Beach'' and Stephen Crane's ``Open Boat,'' as diverse as Belloc's account of the destruction of the Spanish Armada and Heyerdahl's encounters with sharks while floating across the Pacific on Kon-Tiki, as exciting as Joshua Slocum's solo battle with wind and wave off Cape Horn. Tall ships sail again in dramatic, sharply reproduced paintings (25 in color), engravings, and early photos, mostly from the last century. Even readers who believe that water belongs in a cup will have sea legs after a voyage through this first-rate collection. Large, useful glossary of nautical terms. (Nonfiction. 12+)