A thought-provoking journey through the world's port cities-where trade, culture, and climate converge. From the bustling docks of Shanghai to the historic harbors of Rotterdam, Steenhuis and Teunissen blend art and insight to highlight the fragility of our planet and inevitability of global maritime trade.

Ashok Pandey, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, USA

“As founder and director of the Forum on Debt and Development, Jan Joost Teunissen has inspired economists worldwide to rethink reigning policy frameworks to better tackle the major economic challenges of our time. He has partnered up with Dutch writer and artist Aafke Steenhuis to write this original and engaging study of the crucial role of ports and maritime transport in global society. This is a rare masterpiece. “

Wing Thye Woo, University of California Davis, USA

“This is a powerful testimony to international trade and globalization. Aafke Steenhuis and Jan Joost Teunissen offer an insightful portrait of landmark ports around the world and provide a critical commentary on social, economic, political and cultural factors conditioning the rise and decline of globalization and ports.”

Zdenek Drabek, Former Senior Adviser at the World Trade Organization, Czech Republic

“The sea links us as much as land routes. Jan Joost Teunissen's and Aafke Steenhuis' book shows how globalization was spread not just through trade, but culture and the power of ideas too. Ports are hubs in the network of human interaction. We are more because they connect us."

Andrew Sheng, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong