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GORDON,C.B.,M.V.O.,R.N. (Retd.);,Captian OLIVER L[oudon]: : FIGHT IT OUT

LONDON.WILLIAM KIMBER.,1957.

ISBN No ISBN.

UK,8vo HB+protected dw/dj,illustrated,1st edn. VG/VG. No owner inscrptn,no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,reasonably  clean,colour pictorial illustrated front panel of dw/dj,with capitalised,white-lettered title and other white-lettered author name; spine/backstrip with similarly coloured+ lettered author+title as front and thumbnail colour illustration repeated from front and publisher's capitalised ,white-lettered name to foot of same,rear panel withwhite background with light age grubbing and sporadic foxing spots and publisher's black-lettered advert for another title - ENEMY ENGAGED by Ronald Sired and respective synopsis.Negligible shelf-wear,bumping, creasing to edges and corners – small (approx. 4/5th") closed tear at front,top edge in proximity of head of spine,both head+foot of spine with miniscule chipping,rubbing,corner tips also rubbed but no other major nicks,tears or splits present.Top edges with ageing/toning and sporadic foxing/spotting,fore-edges brighter with less foxing/spotting; contents bright, tight,clean,solid and sound - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips,appears unread,other than my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,original plainnavy blue cloth boards with bright,crisp, blocked gilt lettered spine/backstrip,and immaculate repeated b/w map illustrated endpapers of H.M.S. EXETER's Area of Operations - during her last commission in the war in the Far East. UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,5-238pp [paginated] includes author's Preface,separate Contents+Illustrations lists/tables,XV (15) chapters,an Epilogue,6pp (includes frntis) contemporary b/w photographs,b/w sketch,3 b/w area maps (includes endpapers),2 b/w diagrams interspersed throughout the text and the book,and an Index; plus [unpaginated] half-title,b/w contemporary photographic frntis,title page,and to the rear,2pp publisher's advert for book titles 'The Sheltering Desert' and 'Storm From The Sea' respectively. Visually the exterior appearance is more than acceptable, and even internally,the book is also in an acceptable condition/state of preservation and presentation for a book of its 66 year-old-age.It is only the exterior faults described that prevents a slightly higher overall grading. Despite them,it really is still an exceptional copy for its historical naval content; EXETER's convoy duties and the Battle of the Java Sea and also its particular scarcity. "In all the annals of sea fights there can exist few more moving documents . . . Captain Gordon and his Chief Engineer,Commander (E) A.H. Drake,told with the utmost restraint how their ship - that same EXETER which had fought the Graf spee off the River Plate in December,1939 - went out three years later,on the other side of the world, again to give battle to an overwhelmingly superior enemy; how,after hours of stubborn fighting she received injuries which almost incapacitated the ship; and how she was none the less repaired sufficiently to go to sea again next day and continue the battle."          The above is an extract from the official history 'The War at Sea' by Captain Roskill and refers to the Admiralty reports eventually written by survivors of the Battle of the Java Sea in which the EXTER and other allied ships maintianed a three-day battle against immense Japanese sea and air forces before being annihilated.After the sinking of the EXETER, which he had commanded throughout the engagement,Captain Gordon was picked up out of the water twentyfour hours later by the Japanese and was a prisoner until the end of the war.In this book he gives the first full account of the battle to be published by a British survivor and he tells of his three years in Japanese P.O.W. camps.But Captain Gordon had a lifetime of naval experience and in the earlier chapters he remembers lighter moments and includes an interesting description of his two years as a Comander in the Royal Yacht.                     William Kimber himself,worked for Hutchinson for about 17 years before founding "William Kimber & Co" in 1950. It specialized in aviation, war memoirs, autobiographies and motor-racing titles until 1973 when "Haunted Cornwall" took off and the Ghost Stories became another specialty.The company was bought by Thorsons in 1988.This title one of five published in this year,1957,by KIMBER.            William Kimber was purchased by Thorsons in 1988 and therefore ceased publishing under that name.Thorsons was purchased by William Collins in 1989. William Collins became wholly owned by News Corporation in 1990, and was then incorporated into HarperCollins Publishers.      The name of William Kimber has not been used for publishing since that,making all previously published titles by him,out-of-print,under that name. Please contact seller,because of the lighter weight and the value of this item,for correct, insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!                                      N.B. ALL buyers please note,that stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE.  ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of any inexpensive book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **

UK,8vo HB+protected dw/dj,illustrated,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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