"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
The delight in stories well told is as intrinsic to who we are as a species as toolmaking or song. And from time immemorial, few narrative genres have had the power to so stir the emotions or captivate the imagination as the true account of a lone adventurer's triumph over the titanic forces of nature. Among the handful of such tales to emerge in the twentieth century, one of the most enduring surely must be Sir Francis Chichester's account of his solitary, nine-month journey around the world in his 53-foot ketch Gipsy Moth IV. The story of how the sixty-five-year-old navigator single-handedly circumnavigated the globe, the whole way battling hostile seas as well as his boat's numerous design flaws, is a tale of superhuman tenacity and endurance to be read and reread by sailors and armchair adventurers alike.
This handsome first volume in The Sailor's Classics series restores in its entirety for a new generation of readers Francis Chichester's extraordinarily candid personal account of his adventure. First published in 1967, just months after the completion of Chichester's historic journey, Gipsy Moth Circles the World was an instant international best-seller. It inspired the first solo around-the-world race and remains a timeless testament to the spirit of adventure. The Sailor's Classics edition features a new introduction by series editor Jonathan Raban.
"A remarkable feat, a moving story of conquest by the unquenchable human spirit, a determined old man's gesture of defiance at the modern world. Such was the voyage; his book is a fine account of it with nothing left out."--Alan Villiers, Saturday Review
"Sir Francis Chichester has managed to reawaken the world to one man's capacity to seek and to endure. He has served men by living their dreams of acting with tenacity and courage under pressure."--Time
"We get the day-to-day story of the planning, the decisions, his own lively reports of what the days and nights were like, the good and bad adventures . . . This is not a log that one can sum up. It is a report by a great adventurer, who also happens to be a writer, of one of man's greatest of lonely enterprises."--Harper's
"Chichester's extraordinary feat was the result of constant unremitting attention to detail. . . . Above all [his] narrative reminds us how men can transcend their apparent physical limitations when they are doing something that they very much want to do. He admits to being frightened. . . . He would indeed be superhuman had he never wavered. But it is the Chichester who puts on a green velvet smoking jacket to celebrate his 65th birthday that one comes back to, the Chichester who sheds a tear while enjoying a bottle of Montrachet on his wedding anniversary, Chichester the happy man."--Economist
"At an age when most of us are staying in armchairs, the 65-year-old Sir Francis Chichester accomplished the fastest circumnavigation of the globe in a small sailing vessel . . . and wrote the story of his adventure in a book that will be read for as long as its great predecessors, such as Joshua Slocum."--Library Journal
"Chichester's voyage was a classic of its kind. His book is a classic document of self-punishing endurance. Chichester was in his own way an explorer in the tradition of Scott and Shackleton. Unlike Scott and Shackleton, in these pages he bares himself and his mood swings to the reader's gaze, and one is privileged to be his intimate on this loneliest and most harrowing of voyages."--from the introduction by Jonathan Raban
The Sailor's Classics presents the best writing about the sea as observed from the perspective of a small boat under sail. The stories range from pensive cruises in sheltered waters to tales of endurance and high adventure.
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Fair. A readable copy of the book which may include some defects such as highlighting and notes. Cover and pages may be creased and show discolouration. Seller Inventory # GOR006411088
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Fair. No Jacket. Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 0.8. Seller Inventory # G0340406674I5N00
Book Description Condition: Very Good. Ships from the UK. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects. Seller Inventory # 42303574-75
Book Description Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. N/A (illustrator). 1967 First Edition. Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1967. Pictorial soft cover. Book condition : Very good to near fine. A very clean copy. Appears unread. Book will be sent by UK postal service. Bookseller Inventory #008634. N/A. Seller Inventory # 008634
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Good. Wear present. Scruff marks on the front cover, back cover and at the sides of every page. Fold creasing present. Foxing. Small mark on every page. Discolouration present. Slight tearing present. Scruff mark on a few pages. Small stain at the sides of every page. Seller Inventory # E0166723
Book Description Soft cover. Condition: Good to Worn - Age Marks. Various Artists & Photographers (illustrator). Seller Inventory # 068997