Bevan David Chapter Heading Illustrations by Michael Presswell (1 results)

Condition: Good. First edition hard back binding in publisher's original black cloth covered boards, blocked and lettered gilt back. 8vo. 7½'' x 5¼''. HMS Birkenhead was one of the first iron-hulled ships built for the Royal Navy. She was designed as a steam frigate, but was converted to a troopship before being commissioned. While transporting troops and a few civilians to Algoa Bay, the Birkenhead was wrecked on 26 February 1852 at Danger Point near Gansbaai, 87 miles from Cape Town in the Cape Colony. There were insufficient serviceable lifeboats for all the passengers, and the soldiers famously stood in ranks on board, thereby allowing the women and children to board the boats safely and escape the sinking. Only 193 of the estimated 643 people on board survived, and the soldiers' chivalry gave rise to the unofficial "women and children first" protocol when abandoning ship, while the "Birkenhead drill" of Rudyard Kipling's poem came to describe courage in the face of hopeless circumstances. Contains (xiii), 190 pp with monochrome illustrations throughout. Fine condition book in Good condition price clipped dust wrapper with rubbing to the corners and spine ends. Dust wrapper supplied in archive acetate film protection. Member of the P.B.F.A. ROYAL NAVY (RN).…