James A. Pottinger is a retired marine engineer who has served in the Merchant Navy and in senior management in the North Sea oil industry for Scotland, Norway, and Holland. Brought up in a fishing village in Shetland, he has a life-long interest in the fishing industry and many connections with it. He has previously written "Fishing Boats of Scotland, Scots of Greenock, Fishing Boats of Scotland: A New Look," and" Clyde Built." He lives in Aberdeen.

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With the gradual phasing out of wooden fishing boats of Scotland it is timely to record some of these handsome vessels. In the years from 1960-80 boat builders produced some of their most shapely and graceful craft, a testament to the skill of both the builders and designers. Initially the designs were a collaboration of builders and skippers, but later the implementation of statutory rules demanded a more structured approach by qualified naval architects, which inevitably resulted in a certain degree of standardisation. James A. Pottinger's new illustrated volume concentrates solely on the graceful wooden boats, large and small, regarded by many to be the best looking boats of all. Many boats are photographed at sea, while other views range from repairs being carried out to the more melancholy sight of beautiful craft being cut up. Boats were once scrapped only due to old age, but sadly political factors now often dictate the destruction of the classic wooden craft included here.