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1st. 1990
George Weidenfeld and Nicolson Limited
London
ISBN 0 297 84041 X
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A cobalt cloth bound book with gilt lettering to the spine in Near Fine condition in a Near Fine unclipped dust wrapper. |
The author
Born in 1920 his obituary appeared in the Daily Telegraph 26.07.96. He joined the Royal Navy as a signalman in 1939 and served throughout the Second World War in a variety of ships, including the cruiser HMS Vindictive, the ocean boarding vessel LARGS, and the escort carrier HMS RAVAGER, ending the war as a lieutenant, RNVR. His first novel was published in 1957. He went on to become one of the fifty most read authors of the British lending library system, annually qualifying for the £6,000 maximum payable sum for Public Lending Rights.
Blurb
The Laurentia, pride of the PanAtlantic fleet, sails from New York bound for Liverpool, carrying a mixed bag of passengers, British and American, young and old. The year is 1915 and Captain Pacey's anxieties are many as he takes his command out past the Ambrose Light for what might prove to be a hazardous voyage. The liner, still in her peace-time luxury, nears the war-torn coasts of Britain and the hunting packs of German U-boats. The passengers are unaware that the Laurentia, though unarmed, is
carrying war materials, and if this should become known to the German High Command, the liner might well become a legitimate target for enemy attack.
Shadowed by intrigue in high places in Britain, the ship itself is alive with rumour and threat. On the passenger list are Rickards, an old soldier from the Boer War, at odds with Lady Barlow, social climber and snob, and her mother-dominated son; Leon Fielding, one-time singer, who is later falsely accused of a particularly unpleasant crime; Patrick Haggerty, New York banker, travelling to Britain on behalf of President Wilson to negotiate a loan, desperately needed by Prime Minister Asquith and Winston Churchill; there are roughnecks in the Third Class who cause trouble which leads to murder; and Frederick Jones, terrified of arrest on a charge of homicide committed just before leaving New York.
Danger from beneath the waves and fear and mistrust in the microcosmic world of the passengers on board are brought to high tension in this absorbing sea adventure.
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