Though often overlooked by maritime historians, the Middle Ages were a time of unprecedented change in shipbuilding in northern Europe, bringing technological innovations that would have far-reaching effects on British, European, and world history. In The Good Ship, Ian Friel traces the momentous developments in rigging and ship construction in England during the medieval period.

Friel focuses on two important improvements: the adoption of the lateen rig (using two or more masts in place of the single-masted square-rigger) and the change from clinker to carvel (or skeleton) construction. These changes, Friel explains, set the scene for the development of the great European navies and the voyages of exploration that began in the fifteenth century.

Friel also examines the economic and social forces that shaped the shipbuilding industry and describes the period's shipyards and the craftsmen who worked there. Beautifully illustrated with medieval manuscript illuminations, seals, tapestries, and carvings as well as with modern diagrams, drawings, and photographs, The Good Ship is essential reading not only for specialists in the history of sail but also for anyone with an interest in medieval England.