The Ship of the Line takes the best models from the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich to tell the story of the evolution of the ship of the line, known as the capital ship and epitome of British sea power during its heyday from 1650-1850. This period coincided with the golden age of ship modeling. Each volume depicts over one hundred models in full color photos, including many close-up and detail views. These photos are captioned in depth, but many are also annotated to focus attention on interesting or unusual features. The book weaves the pictures into an authoritative text, producing a unique form of technical history. Ship modelers and those with an interest in the development of ship design during the sailing era will be attracted to the in-depth analysis of this beautifully presented book. Brian Lavery is the guest curator of the exhibition Victory 250 at Chatham Historic Dockyard. He has written more than thirty books on maritime history including the highly successful Nelson’s Navy and Empire of the Seas .