The Plimsoll Sensation

The story of a Victorian philanthropist who reformed shipping laws, saved thousands of sailors’ lives and became a national hero

‘A story of ambition, treachery, libel, political intrigue and cold-blooded murder on a mass scale’ Herald

‘Nicolette Jones charts Plimsoll’s course with skill, insight and elegance’ Sunday Telegraph

‘Splendid and meticulously researched’ Guardian

In the second half of the nineteenth century, an astonishing campaign stirred a nation to save the lives of the hundreds of British sailors who were drowning unnecessarily every year. Overladen and ill-repaired ships set sail, their doomed crews sacrificed while mercenary shipowners profited from the insurance. Samuel Plimsoll blew the whistle on these scandalous practices, devoting his life to a campaign for maritime reform. Plimsoll caught the public imagination: under his banner working men and women stood side by side with enlightened aristocrats and industrialists, their clamour almost toppling a prime minister.