War & Escape - 20th Century | Archive | Voyager Rare Books Maps & Prints

Of Ships and Men – Alan Villiers

Published by Newnes, London in 1964 after the 1962 first. Tall octavo, 206 pages heavily illustrated. Very good condition and the best printing of a book published in a number of forms.

A personal anthology by the Master Mariner. In chronological order with “The Build-up” … the opening sentence is “There were sailing ships at the bottom of our street – real sailing-ships, I mean – Cape Horners, four-masted barques, fully-rigged” …. love it!

Then we are off with … “The Real Thing” and then “Steamships” and “Little Ships” and “War”.

Villiers unique knowledgeable writing style

$25.00

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Adventure in Depth – Commander William King

Published by Putnam’s, New York 1975, a first edition. Octavo, 250 pages, nicely illustrated and with a chart of the voyage. Very good condition.

Bill King perhaps the greatest Submarine Commander ever, well the only one to survive the whole of WWII. Here, in 1973, he circumnavigates the world in his specially built junk-type rigged “Galway Blazer II. Survives a capsize in the South Atlantic before being hit and damaged by a killer whale near Western Australia. Following the roaring forties route over the Pacific and Round the Horn and the return home.

An unusual book with reminiscences of submarine activity intermingled with the adventures of his circumnavigation.

Incredible voyage and reminiscences from an incredible man

$30.00

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The War Between the Generals – Inside the Allied High Command – David Irving

Published by Allen Lane , London 1981. Thick octavo, 446 with many illustrations from period photographs, endpaper maps. Private bookplate on front paste down. Showing a little age, still a pretty good copy.

It was the biggest scrap that no one was to know about … Eisenhower versus Montgomery and some others thrown in the mix. Post war cover up exposed by Irving.

Ego at the very top as often

$30.00

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Attacker – The Hudson and its Flyers – Geoffrey Jones

Published by Kimber, London a first edition 1980. Very good near fine condition. Octavo, 238 pages heavily illustrated with relevant images from photographs of the period.

The Lockheed Hudson flew in five continents and was the first US aircraft into the RAF. Deadly against U-boats taking out a total of 24. Often flown on special missions dropping agents or picking up patriots from the jaws of the enemy. Guarded the beaches of Dunkirk.

Superb book for the lover of good aircraft

$30.00

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The Battle of Lake Champlain (Plattsburgh), and The Battle of Fort McHenry (Baltimore) – The Boston Messenger – 7th October 1814

An original four page broadsheet … the Boston Messenger published on the 7th October 1812 at the culmination of the War of 1812 between The USA and Britain and its allies.

Over 150 column inches (half the paper) devoted to reports, commentary and tributes, from both sides, regarding these important battles.

The Battle of Lake Champlain (Also known as the Battle of Plattsburgh) ended the invasion of the northern states of the USA during the War of 1812. The British army under General Prevost and the Royal Navy under Downie converged on the lakeside town of Plattsburgh which was defended by New York and Vermont militia and detachments of regular troops under General Macomb and ships under Macdonough. The British attacked after dawn on the 11th September 1814 but were defeated after a hard fight in which Downie was killed. Prevost retreated to Canada.

The Battle of Fort McHenry (Also known as the Battle of Baltimore, Maryland) inspired Francis Scott Key to write the “Star Spangled Banner” as he was watching the battle from a British ship! This battle the turning point when US forces warded off a British invasion of the sea port of Baltimore. The British had landed 5,000 troops who first found resistance at the Battle of North Point, some five miles from the city. General Sticker commanding a group of Maryland militia blunted the British attack killing General Ross in command. They were halted. Meanwhile at Fort McHenry 1,000 American soldiers awaited the British bombardment. They had protected the harbour by sinking a line of merchant ships. The attack began on 13th September 1814 using mortars and rockets. The pounding was relentless although inaccurate and little damage was sustained. British Admiral Cochrane decided on a commando style assault in an attempt to distract the American troops. However, it failed and from there the British gave up any hope of success and retreated on 14th September 1814.

Whilst all this was happening peace negotiations were underway in Europe, also noted in this edition. A Treaty was soon signed to end the war on the basis that prior territories were retained.

Significant Reports the War of 1812

$90.00

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Secret Servant – My Life with the KGB and the Soviet Elite – Ilya Dzhirkvelov

Published by Collins, London in 1987. 397 pages all in very good condition … a substantial book and a very good read.

Illya Dzhirkvelvov joined the Soviet intelligence services in 1943 as a teenager. He was a guard to Stalin at the Yalta conference. A distinguished career in the KGB followed and then he became a journalist of disinformation , or “fake news” as the “Donald” would say. In 1980 he defected and lived in Britain.

Detailed KJB and fake news

$40.00

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War & Escape – 20th Century

Of Ships and Men – Alan Villiers

Adventure in Depth – Commander William King

The War Between the Generals – Inside the Allied High Command – David Irving

Attacker – The Hudson and its Flyers – Geoffrey Jones

The Battle of Lake Champlain (Plattsburgh), and The Battle of Fort McHenry (Baltimore) – The Boston Messenger – 7th October 1814

Secret Servant – My Life with the KGB and the Soviet Elite – Ilya Dzhirkvelov

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