The Death Ship tells the story of an American sailor stateless and penniless because he has lost his passport who is harassed by police and hounded across Europe until he finds an illegal job shoveling coal in the hold of a steamer bound for destruction. The Death Ship is the first of B. Traven s politically charged novels about life among the downtrodden which have sold more than thirty million copies in thirty-six languages. Next to The Treasure of the Sierra Madre it is his most celebrated work