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CARLIN,BEN: : Half-Safe:Across the Atlantic By Jeep

LONDON.ANDRE DEUTSCH,1955.

ISBN No ISBN.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.VG/VG.No owner inscrptn,no price-clip to dw/dj - absence of publisher price.Dulled,glossy laminated colour pictorial illustrated upper wrap, dulled subject b/w photographic rear wrap, with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - minor rubbing+ chipping with miniscule loss to extremities.Internal water-stain to rear dw/dj's inner flap - bds unaffected.Top edge dust-soiled and aged/darkened; fore-edge brighter and cleaner but lightly, sporadically spotted/foxed,contents bright,tight and generally clean,but with some light,sporadic spotting/foxing internally.Bright,clean,publisher's original,plain green cloth bds with bright,crisp,stamped gilt letters to spine/backstrip and b/w map illustrated eps which have off-set foxing from dw/dj's inner flaps.8vo,15-279pp [paginated] includes 19 chapters+epilogue,b/w diagrams +map charts,and 32pp contemporary b/w photographs between pp124/157; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages, dedication,contents+illus lists/tables,and acknowledgements. Ben Carlin,who came from Perth,Western Australia,tells of the most staggering story in the history of the automobile,or should we say,small boat? For Half-Safe, the vehicle (or vessel) in which he and Elinore,his wife,crossed the Atlantic on the first lap of their journey round the world,is an amphibious jeep.It is half the size of the smallest powered vessel ever to have made the crossing until the Carlins' did so - and,need it be said,the only car to have done it under its own power.This book describes the journey from Halifax,Nova Scotia to England,where the Carlins' had to settle for a while in order to renovate the jeep and raise money for the next part of their journey. Half-Safe waddled out of Halifax ballasted with the grave foreboding of everyone who knew the crazy Carlins',and no wonder.For she is no larger than an ordinary jeep and with her square superstructure and the bits and pieces that she carried she looked something between a hen-coop and a gypsy caravan.But 32 days later she trundled ashore in the Azores,her skipper and his gallant (and horribly sea-sick) crew dirty and tired but very happy.After surviving thousands of miles of the cruel sea they almost foundered under the waves of hospitality and kindness shown them by the people of these little-visited islands,and Elinore's diary,which supplements Ben's story throughout the book,gives a delightful picture of the gay and far from restful weeks they spent there. By then they thought they had proved how good Half-Safe was,but the real test came during the next stage - from the Azores to Madeira.Instead of an easy nine to ten days downhill run, they had a hellish twenty-three of storm and hurricane.For days little Half-Safe was bashed,thumped,submerged and tossed in a howling wilderness of monstrous seas.It is not easy to convey the sensations of riding such a storm in a car,but Ben Carlin does it.Indeed,there have been few better accounts of wild weather at sea. From Madeira they crossed to Africa, arriving at Cap Juby on the fringes of the Spanish Sahara.The desert drive was hazardous and the reader shares the Carlins' relief when they reach Europe at last and have only to contend with the more familiar perils entailed by being broke.Sometimes an amateur writer comes along who can do better with an out-of-the-ordinary story than a professional.Ben Carlin is one of them.His direct and racy style,his wry understatements and his humour have turned his journey into one of the best adventures stories of the time. Please contact seller,because of the value of this item,for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.

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