Sons of Sindbad

Alan Villiers (1903-82) was a recognized maritime adventurer of the twentieth century, combining seafaring skills, writing ability and pioneering photojournalism, and made a name for himself with resulting bestsellers such as Falmouth for Orders (1929), which follows his voyage on one of the last grain races round Cape Horn from Australia to Britain. He served on the committees for a number of maritime bodies and, as a Trustee of the National Maritime Museum, played a fundamental role in establishing its historic photograph collection. Overall he published more than forty books and innumerable articles and was well known around the world as a lecturer and broadcaster.

During a life spent largely at sea, the Australian writer Alan Villiers (1903-82) both lived and recorded the last days of commercial sail around the world, writing innumerable articles and more than forty books, many of them bestsellers in their day. Combining his gifts as intrepid seaman, writer, photographer, lecturer and adviser on maritime history and traditions, he built up a unique body of work on the world of tall ships that vanished during the first half of the 20th century.