For thousands of years the Atlantic Ocean was viewed by mariners with a mixture of awe, terror and amazement – an impassable barrier to the unknown. Now this vast sea is seen as a mere passageway between continents – ‘the pond’. It is easy to forget that the Atlantic has been the setting for some of the most important exchanges, ideas and challenges in the history of civilisation – the age of exploration and the colonisation of the Americas; the rise and fall of the slave trade, and the flourishing of transatlantic commerce; emigration; and great naval battles. Bestselling author Simon Winchester, in Atlantic, traces its history from its birth to its eventual extinction millions of years in the future. He reports from the places that encapsulate the Atlantic’s most fascinating stories. It’s a story of immense importance to the world, and also to Bristol.