Helen Doe is a well-known maritime historian who specialises in the nineteenth century. She gained her PhD at the University of Exeter, where she is a Fellow. Her other books include Enterprising Women in Shipping in the Nineteenth Century and she was a major contributor and co-editor of the award-winning The Maritime History of Cornwall. She is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a trustee of the British Commission for Maritime History and a trustee of the ss Great Britain.