Sailing Around the World, by Joshua Slocum (Phoenix, £9.99 in UK)

Slocum, a retired Nova Scotian sailing ship skipper, set out alone from Boston in April 1895 in his sloop the Spray and returned a little over three years later, making him the first man to circumnavigate the globe single handed. His book, which apparently was written without the help of a "ghost", is as readable as when it was first put down on paper, and it shows Slocum to have been a man of iron nerve, a surprising sensitivity and sense of humour, and an outstanding seaman and navigator. The original line drawings have been retained for this edition.