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ROSKILL**,D.S.C.,R.N; Captain S. W.: : H.M.S. Warspite: The Story of a Famous Battleship

LONDON.COLLINS,1957.

ISBN No ISBN.

UK,8vo HB+protected dw/dj,illustrated,1st edn. VG/VG. Owner inked name+date to front free endpaper but no price-clip to dw/dj.Graduated dark grey colour (sea/ skyscape?) background illustrated front panel of dw/dj with white silhouette lined illustration of subject battleship and red-lettered part-title and black-lettered author name,spine/backstrip with similarly coloured+lettered part-title+author name as front panel and publisher's white-lettered name to foot of same,rear panel with white background with age-acquired foxing/ spotting and critics' black-lettered reviews of Roskill's two-volume'd 'Official History of the War at Sea.' Negligible shelf-wear,bumping, creasing to edges and corners – no major nicks, tears or splits present - though both head+foot of spine with miniscule chipping and reciprocal creases.Top edges aged/toned with dust-flecking spots,fore-edges brighter but sporadically foxed/spotted; contents bright,tight,clean and solid - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips,appears unread,other than my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean, generally sharp-cornered - exception lower front+rear corner tips gently pushed - original plain sea-green cloth boards with bright,crisp, blocked gilt lettered spine/backstrip,and plain white endpapers with off-setting from dw/djs' inner flaps to respective opposing free endpapers.UK,8vo HB+protected dw/dj,illustrated, 1st edn,7-319pp [paginated] includes author's acknowledgements,a Foreword by Lord Cunningham of Hyndhope,a poem about Warspite grounded at Marazion by Lt-Cmdr R.A.B. Michell,separate Contents+Illustrations+ Maps lists/tables,X (10) chapters+ Epilogue,8pp contemporary b/w photographs in 4 blocks of 2pp apiece interspersed throughout the text and the book, b/w battle maps a b/w gun turret diagram, Appendices  (A- G) and an Index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,and a dedication with blank reverse.             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 age.It is only the exterior faults that prevents a slightly higher overall grading.Despite them,it really is still an acceptable copy,particularly as a naval document of unusual and enduring interest and also with its West Country connections.                                      When the period of supremacy of the modern battleship can be viewed in its historical perspective it is plain that the most famous, successful and long-lved of them will be seen to be the seventh Warspite.Completed in 1915 being built in HM Dockyard,Devonport,Plymouth and decommissioned in 1945,Warspite ran aground under tow to be scrapped in 1947 on rocks near Prussia Cove, Cornwall,and was eventually broken up in situ. Warspite played a prominent part at Jutland,she was a Fleet Flagship between the wars,and Captain Roskill suggests that when a new warship is commissioned by the Admiralty to wear this famous name she should carry additional battle honours naming Narvik, Calabria, Matapan, Crete, Lybia, North Africa, Sicily, Salerno, Normandy and Walcheren.                                    Roskill's gift as a naval historian have been widely recognised since the publication of the first two volumes of the Official History of 'The War at Sea,1939-45'.To the writing of this story of a ship he brings the additional qualification that he served three years in Warspite,and,like so many of her company,he loved her.Original material has also been made available by officers and men who fought in Warspite in WW2,including Admiral of the Fleet Lord Cunningham,who himself contributes a foreword.The author reconstructs lucidly and excitingly the great naval actions of the two world wars,in many of which Warspite was engaged; Matapan,the most important British surface action of WW2,is described in detail; and throughout his story he keeps in mind and develops the strategic role of the battleship to a maritime power.                                Please contact seller,for correct 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 US 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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