"In Taking the Sea," Dennis M. Powers uncovers a fascinating, yet largely unknown, period in our history. Here he traces the journey of these legendary men through the story of Captain Thomas P. H. Whitelaw, the most important ship salvager of his day. From their early beginnings when needy villagers followed stricken ships in the hopes of improving their lives a little to their heyday in the early twentieth century when steamships and schooners ruled the country's transportation byways. Powers offers a compelling portrait of the wrecker captains and the dangerous lives they and their men led.