Mare Balticum tells the story of the colourful destiny of the Baltic Sea over a period of two thousand years. It pictures the Baltic as a unifying element in the cross-currents between East and West, North and South, showing how navigation, trade, power politics and communications have shaped the Baltic region. The illustration of the book is unique: the rare pictures come from museums and libraries of the Baltic countries as well as from the remotest archives. Many of the antique sea charts are now published for the first time.