Born in 1894 on the canal boat Quailin, Jack Roberts worked as a fly-boatman until the Shropshire Union Railway & Canal Company ceased fly-boating in 1921. He later switched to the railway industry in Cheshire and returned to the canals after retirement, serving as the skipper of a hostel boat for about four years.

Written in the 1960s, the book appeals to canal and working boat enthusiasts, as well as those interested in transport history and the lives of canal boaters. Only a few canal boatmen have written about their experiences, making Jack Roberts’ previously unpublished autobiography a valuable and insightful resource.