ArtFire

This classic by Captain Alan Villiers is an exciting nautical anthology of short stories, essays, and excerpts by real-life seafaring authors. Their experience on the high seas gives their fiction the ring of truth, and makes the memoirs that much more gripping.

These stories were written over the first fifty years of the twentieth century. This book is the third (1965)edition of the 1959 classic. It has 255 pages and 14 selections.

The stories included in this anthology are as follows:
Joseph Conrad : "Youth," fiction. A failed voyage in the Indian ocean.
"The Character of the Foe." nonfiction essay about the end of the era of sailing vessels.
Alan Villiers: "The Captains of the Ilhavo." Fiction/essay. The last generation of career Portuguese fisherman from Ilhavo.
Jan de Hartog: "Skipper Next to God." Essay. Thoughts on his first assignment as captain.
Joshua Slocum. "Seventy-two Days Without a Port." Excerpt from memoir. A foreigner's rousing account of meeting South Pacific natives.
Angus MacDonald. "Ordeal." Memoir. Real-life harrowing account of two u-boat attacks and life in an open boat in the south Atlantic during WWII.
F. C. Hendry. "Easting Down." Fiction. Harrowing run from the Cape of Good Hope to Australia through the Easterlies.
Sir Ernest Shackleton. "The Boat Journey." Memoir. Rescue run in a small open boat in arctic waters.
Felix Riesenberg. "Christmas Day on the High Seas." Memoir. Switching sails on a merchant craft is just another day in the life.
William McFee. "The Reluctant Hero." Fictionalized essay. The Flying Enterprise seemed lost, but the captain refused to leave her, even when the crew did.
Morley Roberts. "The Captain of the Ullswater." Fiction. High seas rescue under the command of a brave captain.
Sir James Bisset. "A Frigid Reception." Memoir. His account of meeting his captain and superiors on his first appointment as second mate.
Kenneth Hardman. "The Advantages of Seafaring." Memoir Essay. Reflections on what seamen gave up and why they thought their job was superior to other kinds of work.
Hugh Popham. "First Deck Landing." Memoir Excerpt. Life as a navy airman in training during WWII.

Dimensions:
6 1/2 in. x 4 1/4 in. x 1/2 in. (US)
16.5 cm. x 10.7 cm. x 1.2 cm. (Metric)

Condition notes: There are a few nicks on the edges of the covers, and a crease in the front cover. The pages are somewhat yellowed, but this is generally in great condition for a trade paperback. I have done my best to represent it well in pictures. Sold as is.

Ships domestic media mail, or first class international. Where possible I am always willing to combine shipping.

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