James Hanley is a much under-rated novelist whose novels, including The Ocean, Drift and Men in Darkness, deserve a wider readership than they have had. He was also a fine short story writer and this book brings together the best of his stories. Some are sea stories about those who do the back-breaking work aboard ship and their attempts to retain their dignity throughout hopeless struggles with the sea and with each other. Others show lonely and frustrated people who slave away for monolithic organisations in which they are not even noticed. They all deal sympathetically with men and women who are victims of the tortuous forces of war, or class, or poverty in an economical prose, which is as effective for what it leaves out as for what it includes. They confirm Hanley s standing as a writer who gave authentic voice to working people and honestly reflected their lives.