An idiosyncratic, richly illustrated guide to Britain's rivers, seas and shores, for everyone who loves the water and the natural world - a Norwegian Wood for Britain's waters This is a book for those who want to understand better how the waters surrounding us affect our daily lives, how it imperceptibly but crucially shapes our actions, and has shaped our landscape for millenia. It's for anyone who knows and loves our coast, and who wants to understand, discover, surf, or sail it better. Inspired by his own witnessing of the power of the sea through travelling around Britain's coastline in a panel van with his young family, William Thomson tells the story of the cycles of the sea. He combines a lyrical, passionate narrative with graphically beautiful renderings of the main forms of water which affect Britain: Rip, Rapids, Swell, Stream, Tide, Wave, Whirlpool, Tsunami. The Book of Tides is a book for all of us who feel the pull of the sea and the tug of the tide.