"Ploughing the Sea" is borrowed from the text of a letter sent by Simon Bolivar to one of his lieutenants, complaining that governing his country in the early 19th Century with its never-ending problems was like ploughing the sea; no sooner had the difficulties been pushed aside, they would inevitably, after a short period, flow back again to their original chaotic state. The "South Sea" was the name given by Balboa in 1513 to that stretch of the Pacific Ocean south of the Bay of Panama and extending to the Strait of Magellan. Given the problems associated with this region, the title is particularly apt. "Ploughing the South Sea" is a study of economic, social and political factors contributing to an affecting the development of merchant shipping along the West Coast of South America, from the Spanish Imperial Era to the end of the 20th Century.