THE NARROW SEA: BARRIER, BRIDGE AND GATEWAY TO THE WORLD - THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH CHANNEL.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.[Complete number line 10 - 1 descending.] FINE/FINE-. No owner inscrptn and no price-clip (£18.99) to dw/dj. Bright,crisp,clean,glossy colour pictorial illustrated dw/dj with montage'd colour illustrations (Channel map - top edge) and seascape painting by Joseph Turner - bottom edge) with brown lettered title and orange lettered author name lettering to front,thumbnail detail from front's bottom edge painting to spine/backstrip with brown+black lettering,rear panel and its inner flap with colour painting 'The Onslaught of the Smugglers',c.1837(oil on canvas) by Louis Eugene Gabriel Isabey; with negligible shelf-wear,bumping, creasing to edges and corners – no major nicks,tears or splits, other than rear,lower corner's tip with an approx. 1-5cm closed tear - no others present. Some superficial scoring,some sporadic indent impressions to rear panel, but without any penetration to board beneath.Top+fore-edges though slightly aged/toned are clean without blemish,no foxing/spotting; contents bright,tight,clean, solid and sound – no intentional dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips,but corner tips of pp139/42 inclusive with a accidental tiny,overlapping,uniform crease - else – near pristine and would appear unread,apart from my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,original,plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp, blocked silver gilt lettered spine/backstrip and immaculate /clean repeated b/w Channel map illustrated sets of endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,1-340pp [paginated] includes a Prologue,18 chapters,8pp mixture of facsimile historical colour illustrations reproduction and modern b/w+colour photographs in 1 block,between pp166/7,End Notes,a bibliography,and an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,a dedication,contents list/table,text permissiions and 2pp blanks at rear of the book. Visually the exterior appearance is spectacular for a book of it's age and nature,i.e a child's book,and even internally, the book is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation.It is only minimal faults; the scoring/indents and closed tear preventing a higher grading overall. The Channel's powerful winds,tides and currents have complicated navigation,dictated naval strategy and frustrated invaders,fishermen and cross-Channel swimmers alike.Greater than the greatest rivers,as influential as the wildest oceans,the Channel's place in history has been set. Beside its European neighbours - the Mediterranean,the Black Sea, the Baltic and the North Sea - the English Channel seems an insignificant piece of water.Its very names suggest the domestically diminutive,for 'Channel' derives from the Dutch ;canal',and the French 'Manche' from its sleeve-like shape.And yet,the Channel tells a historical tale as complicated and vital as the Mediterranean,the Baltic or even the Atlantic Ocean. Separating Britian from Europe,hindering invasion and producing a border more effective than any barbed wire,the Channel also serves as a link between mainland and island. For thousands of years ships have travelled back and forth, bearing people as diverse as William the Conqueror,Francis Drake and Geaorge Snelling,'the great smuggler of Broadstairs'.Leaders such as Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte and Hitler have battled for sovreignty over the narrow seas,while galleons,ships,submarines and Spitfires have tried to stop them. 'The Narrow Sea' tells the story of the English Channel from the land bridge that linked Britain to the continent nine thousand years ago to the Channel Tunnel of the 21stC.Drawing from original texts as varied as 'The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' and a soldier's Second World War diaries,Peter Unwin charts the landscape and seascape of northern Europe's gateway to the oceans and reveals a history of political and military intrigue,but also a story of individual lives transformed. Please contact seller @ rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas customers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,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 customers please be aware: US Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to USA can now cost more than the price of the 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. **