R. H. Davies, author of Canal Crimes, takes the reader on a journey from Birmingham along the main line canal through Tipton and Oldbury, exploring the Dudley and Stourbridge canals, and continuing on to Walsall and Wolverhampton. He concludes with images of canals that have vanished over time and of the Black Country Living Museum, which preserves aspects of life in the Black Country that would otherwise be lost.