THE GUERNSEYMAN

An olive cloth bound book with gilt lettering to the spine - some shelf rubbing - page block excellent - VERY GOOD condition. In an unclipped, chipped and edge worn wrapper VERY GOOD MINUS.

£12.00 PLUS P & P

THE GUERNSEYMAN
C. Northcote Parkinson

The Guernseyman tells of the earliest days at sea of Richard Delancey before his exploits in Devil to Pay. Young Delancey has scarcely arrived in Liverpool as a shipowner's clerk before he is arrested for involvement in Merseyside riots against the lowering of seamen's wages. Appalled at what his sentence might be if brought to trial, he accepts the alternative of joining the Navy as a volunteer. With his father's help he becomes a midshipman. Sailing for the North American station he is faced by the harsh realities of training in navigation, gunnery and seamanship.

A shore appointment in New York leads to diplomatic and social duties and a meeting with a diStant American cousin, the young heiress Charlotte de Lancey, to whom he is greatly attracted. After General Burgoyne's defeat at Saratoga and news of France's support for the American rebels, Delancey returns home to learn that the French are about to at tack Jersey. Fle playsa part in that island's defence. But a greater threat looms. Gibraltar is besieged by French and Spanish armies. British communications and supplies are stretched on all fronts. Spurred on by hopes of promotion to Lieutenant, all Delancey's bravery and initiative are called upon while penetrating enemy lines. The climax describes the culmination of the siege, the bombardment of the Rock by floating batteries, which were attacked in turn by British gunboats, some of them led by Delancey himself.

Professor Parkinson's main interest has always been naval warfare in Napoleonic times and the Richard Delancey novels are the f ruit of a lifetime's research into the great days of combat on the high seas.