This book is a hybrid, part academic part autobiography, containing accounts of marine geological and oceanographic work, geographical accounts and impressions of places visited, personal recollections of activities undertaken, and comments on situations encountered. Apart from the Introduction, the period covered is from the mid-1960s up to almost the present, more than 50 years. During this period, working practices at sea have changed considerably, as have many of the places visited. An attempt is made to describe and account for these changes. The region covered in most detail is the South Pacific, including its islands. At the beginning of the period, many of these were still colonial territories, but all gained their independence to a greater or lesser extent, by the end of the 20th century. This was often accompanied by social and political upheaval, and an attempt is made to describe this and the reasons for it; in essence, a comparison of "The Old Pacific" with its more modern counterpart. Finally, the book can be considered in some respects to be a travelogue, of interest to people considering visiting any of the places mentioned and wishing to compare how they are now with how they were in the past.

Unique features, compared with other books are: a) the wide geographical area covered, b) the long time period covered, and c) the degree of personal involvement with both the places and activities described.