'An exceptional book. Sailing Alone belongs on the very small shelf of the true classics of the sea' Peter Nichols, author of Sea Change and A Voyage for Madmen

'Colourful and inventive' The Times

Sailing on a boat by yourself out at sea and out of sight of land can be exhilarating or terrifying, compelling or tedious - sometimes it can be all of these things just in one morning. It is an adventure at odds with our normal, sociable lives, carried out floating on a medium wholly inimical to our existence. But the deep ocean is also a remarkable place on which to think.

Richard King's enormously engaging and curious new book is about the debt we owe to solo sailors: women and men, young and old, who have set out alone. Spending weeks and months alone, slowly, quietly and close to the ocean surface is to create the world's largest laboratory: an endlessly changing, capricious and startling place in which to observe oneself, the weather, the stars and myriad sea creatures, from the tiniest to the most massive and threatening.

This is a book for anyone who is fascinated by sailing, solitude and the vast seas that cover so much of our planet.

"An engaging, beautifully written history of single-handed sailing ... Packed with ripping yarns and driven characters." - The Economist

"Those who have chosen to face the dangers of the ocean alone are a colourful and inventive bunch ... I was delighted to read of [King's] amazement." - The Times

"The book is as much a feat as the crossing ... something to be marvelled at ... I’ve already started plotting my own ocean crossing." - Prospect

"First-hand accounts evoke the elation, frustrations and dangers of life in a small boat crossing the ocean ... King assembles a truly eccentric, even flamboyant cast of solo sailors." - Financial Times

"Brilliantly written, I have been drawn back to Sailing Alone again and again; each new reading brings a different perspective, and has also introduced me to remarkable sailors I really should have known about." - Practical Boat Owner

"King has an academic's research skills and a deep appreciation of the link between solo sailing and writing. He has also had the ocean-time to develop questions that could never have been formulated from a library ... An important, stimulating book." - Yachting Monthly