This heavily illustrated volume offers a comprehensive and dramatic history of coastal life saving and rescues at sea from the earliest times to the present day. Divided into four sections, the book first covers the beginning of the humanitarian life-saving ethos in Europe and China and how it spread throughout the world, followed by a section on the milestones in rescue craft design, from the earliest pulling and sailing lifeboats to the high-speed lifeboats of today. The last two sections provide an overview of contemporary maritime rescue organizations and the search and rescue (SAR) network, including radio and satellite communications. Published with the cooperation of the International Lifeboat Federation, Royal National Lifeboat Institution, and U.S. Coast Guard, this book also features some of the most awe-inspiring heroics and epic tragedies of the lifesaving services.