The Narrow Sea by Peter Unwin. Published by Headline Book Publishing priced £18.99.

The sea has washed over Southampton's history since the earliest of times, playing a vital part in the development of the city and the lives of local people.

Down in the docks ships have constantly come and gone over the centuries, trade has crossed the oceans to and from Southampton, the port has been a key international gateway for the country both in times of war and peace while generations of Sotonians have signed on and crewed some of the world's greatest merchant and military vessels.

Salt water runs through the veins of the city's heritage with the major influences being Southampton Water, the Solent and Atlantic but another stretch of water has also been a major element as the tide of history has ebbed and flowed.

The English Channel not only figures large in Southampton's past times but also continues to be a significant backdrop to today's commercial and leisure activities in and around the city.

A new book, The Narrow Sea by Peter Unwin, takes a carefully researched look at the English Channel, tracing this busy stretch of water from its formation thousands of years ago right up to the opening of the tunnel linking the UK to the Continent.

Southampton is a thread that runs throughout the pages of the book as the chapters cover the different ages and their connections with the Channel.

The author recounts the decline of Southampton in the 1500s when business between the port, Genoa and Venice, whose representatives settled in the city, began to decline.

"Southampton had suffered, too, from the loss of trade with the Gironde when England lost Aqui-taine,'' says the author.

"The consequence of all this was that in the early 16th century Southampton, a major Channel port since the time of the kingdom of Wessex, was gradually eclipsed.''

According to the book Southampton's resurgence was sparked, not by ships, imports and exports, but by Georgian gentry and their love of spas and bathing.

The royal dukes of York, Gloucester and Cumberland all brought their patronage to Southampton where the aristocracy came to take the waters and the streets became the fashionable place to be seen.

"Soon traffic jams assumed 21st century proportions, and the town constable was instructed to remove unattended carriages and chain them to a tree in a lane that acquired the name Pound Tree Road,'' says Unwin.

"With the 19th century came the stirrings of commercial and maritime revival, based first on steamships and then on steam trains. In 1820 a first steam packet, Prince Coburg, was introduced on the Isle of Wight run, and three years later a regular service to Le Havre.

"The town proclaimed itself the 'gateway to the Continent' and in 1883 the building of the docks was started.

"As the world turned ever redder on the map, Southampton grew in importance as a great port of empire, and the terminus of much of Britain's oceanic traffic.''

The rest, as they say, is history with Southampton now taking its turn to eclipse all the other Channel ports.

Southampton's role in the development of the flying boats, the excitement of the Schneider Trophy races and the military build-up in and around Southampton during the First and Second World Wars are also recalled in the book.

"Regiments sailed out of Southampton Water on their way to the Crimean War, the Zulu War and the South African War and so, in 1914, did the British Expeditionary Force,'' says the author.

"Between 1914 and 1918 Southampton docks were shut to civilian traffic while they shipped aboard eight million soldiers, 859,000 horses, 180,000 vehicles and 15,000 guns.

"The wounded, and particularly the shell-shocked, came home to Southampton and its great gaunt Victorian hospital at Netley.''