Wrecks and wrongs: prehistory to 1500 -- Maps and lines: 1500 to 1948 -- Danger and mischief: 1946 to 1995 -- Rocks and other hard places: the South China Sea and international law -- Something and nothing: oil and gas in the South China Sea -- Drums and symbols: nationalism -- Ants and elephants: diplomacy -- Shaping the battlefield: military matters -- Cooperation and its opposites: resolving the disputes