The sale at auction in Edinburgh in 2010 of an old walking stick belonging to a British officer, Captain Gill, shed new light on one of the mysterious crimes of the Victorian era. Captain William Gill & his companions, the noted Arabist Professor Edward Palmer of Cambridge University & a young naval lieutenant, Harold Charrington, were killed in an ambush by Bedouin in the Sinai Desert in 1883. The trio had been tasked with informal diplomacy in the region, specifically to prevent the Arab sheikhs from joining the Egyptian rebels & to secure their non-interference with the Suez Canal. The gruesome murders shocked late-Victorian Britain, & led to pressure from the Queen, Parliament & the Press for the British government to launch a manhunt for the killers in a vast desert area, with mountainous terrain. This book traces the story behind the murder of the three men, uncovering the reason for their journey to the desert, the story of the murder itself as well as the backlash back home in Engl&. It shines light on a fascinating, forgotten crime, as well as on early intelligence operations in the Middle East ...

” Hornblower & the Atropos” skippering the flagship for Nelson`s funeral on the Thames is not Hornblower`s idea of thrilling action. But soon his orders come, & he sets sail for the Mediterranean in the Atropos. ` Battle, storm, shipwreck, disease
- what were the chances that he would never come back again?` ” The happy return” Hornblower sails the South American waters & comes face to face with a mad, messianic revolutionary in a novel that ripples with risk & gripping adventure. ”a ship of the line” commando raids, hurricanes at sea, the glowering menace of Napoleon`s onshore gun batteries
- Hornblower must deal with them all as he sails his ship to the Spanish station. Throughout his escapades Forester remains gallant, resourceful & courageous
- the embodiment of all the most vivid in a great naval tradition.


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The first unpublished novel from the historical fiction legend, George Macdonald Fraser, featuring the unscrupulous & brilliantly entertaining pirate, Calico Jack Rackham. New Providence, 1720s. When infamous pirate Captain ` Calico` Jack Rackham returns from the high seas to ask Governor Woodes Rogers for a royal pardon, the Governor sees his chance to put his own devious plans into action. Their agreement sets off an adventure of betrayals, counter-betrayals, plots & escapes that see Rackham join forces with the scheming but seductively beautiful pirate, Anne Bonney. Captain in Calico is a wonderfully spirited & entertaining novel, which will delight fans of George Mac Donald Fraser. The unscrupulous Captain Rackham is pure pleasure, & shows the author`s early penchant
- & flair
- for writing scoundrels of the highest order.

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The first unpublished novel from the historical fiction legend, George Macdonald Fraser, featuring the unscrupulous & brilliantly entertaining pirate, Calico Jack Rackham. New Providence, 1720s. When infamous pirate Captain ` Calico` Jack Rackham returns from the high seas to ask Governor Woodes Rogers for a royal pardon, the Governor sees his chance to put his own devious plans into action. Their agreement sets off an adventure of betrayals, counter-betrayals, plots & escapes that see Rackham join forces with the scheming but seductively beautiful pirate, Anne Bonney. Captain in Calico is a wonderfully spirited & entertaining novel, which will delight fans of George Mac Donald Fraser. The unscrupulous Captain Rackham is pure pleasure, & shows the author`s early penchant
- & flair
- for writing scoundrels of the highest order.

...

Responding to Titanic`s distress calls in the early hours of 15 April 1912, Captain Arthur Rostron raced the Cunard liner Carpathia to the scene of the sinking, rescued the seven hundred survivors of the world`s most famous shipwreck & then carried them to safety at New York. After twenty-five years at sea, the competence & compassion Rostron displayed during the rescue made him a hero on two continents & presaged his subsequent achievements. During the First World War he participated in the invasion of Gallipoli & commanded Cunard`s Mauretania as a hospital ship in the Mediterranean & a troop transport in the Atlantic. As her longest-serving master he commanded that legendary vessel in transatlantic passenger service through most of the 1920s. Rostron retired in 1931 as the most esteemed master mariner of his era, celebrated for the Titanic rescue, decorated for his war service, & knighted for his contributions to British seafaring. This account uses newspaper reports, company records, government documents, contemporary publications & memoirs to recount Rostron`s seafaring life from his first voyage as an apprentice rounding Cape Horn in sail to his retirement forty-four years later as commodore of the Cunard Line. Set within the context of his times & featuring particulars of the ships in which he served & commanded, this is the first comprehensive biography of Arthur Rostron before, during & after his year as captain of the Carpathia. ...

There`s nothing more likely to prompt our portly hero into action than the prospect of treasure. So when the valiant cabin boy Tom espies a mound of yellow stuff aboard a nearby ship, the Captain sets off in hot pursuit. Unfortunately, his villainous arch-enemy, the horrible Cut-throat Jake, is not far away. Will the Captain be trapped by Jake`s dastardly plan? Or will Tom, the wisest little cabin boy on the Seven Seas, have a plan of his own...? ...

Frances Lincoln are delighted to present paperback editions of this classic picture book series. There`s nothing more likely to prompt our portly hero into action than the prospect of treasure. So when the valiant cabin boy Tom espies a mound of yellow stuff aboard a nearby ship, the Captain sets off in hot pursuit. Unfortunately, his villainous arch-enemy, the horrible Cut-throat Jake, is not far away. Will the Captain be trapped by Jake`s dastardly plan? Or will Tom, the wisest little cabin boy on the Seven Seas, have a plan of his own...? ...

Sir Ranulph Fiennes is uniquely qualified to write a new biography of Captain Scott. This is the first biography of Scott by someone who has experienced the deprivations, the stress & the sheer physical pain that Scott lived through; he has suffered all but the final tragedy endured by the much maligned Scott. He is determined to put the record straight. As well as being the definitive biography of Scott, written with the full & exclusive cooperation of the Scott estate, this book traces the way that Scott`s reputation has been attacked & his achievements distorted.`A valuable corrective to the trend of Scott debunking ushered in by Roland Huntford... One by one, & with commendable attention to detail, Fiennes explodes the accumulated myths. The world will remember Scott &, to a lesser extent, Fiennes when the memory of the mean-spirited & misleading Huntford has long since melted away.`
- Justin Marozzi, Sunday Telegraph.` Sir Ranulph Fiennes has done Captain Scott`s memory some service...he has certainly written a more dispassionate & balanced account than Huntford ever set out to do`
- Simon Courtauld, Spectator.` He is uniquely qualified...because only someone who has ”man-hauled” across Antarctica can know what went on. Fiennes`s own experiences certainly allow him to write vividly & with empathy of the hell that the men went through. He has valuable insights into the running of the Royal Geographical Society & the mounting of an expedition, & he does indeed right some wrongs.`
- The Sunday Times.


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Sir Ranulph Fiennes is uniquely qualified to write a new biography of Captain Scott. This is the first biography of Scott by someone who has experienced the deprivations, the stress & the sheer physical pain that Scott lived through. Ranulph Fiennes tells the story of Scott's life
- & discusses how his achievements have been viewed after his death
- with empathy & great skill.

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Captain Scott, A Ladybird Adventure from History was originally published in 1963. This adventure from history tells the story of Captain Scott's expedition to the South Pole
- the courage, determination & devotion of five very brave men, who faced many challenges & who sacrificed their lives in a great adventure. This new edition of this beautifully illustrated book marks the 100th anniversary of Scott's expedition & is exactly the same as the original. The events of the fateful expedition are carefully explained & illustrated with twenty-four full page images.
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