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ADKINS**, ROY: : Trafalgar: The Biography of a Battle.** [Author SIGNED copy.]

LONDON.LITTLE,BROWN,2004.

ISBN 0316725110.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,SIGNED 1st edn. FINE+/FINE+.No owner inscrptn but author's handwritten,black ink signature - without dedication - and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,matt, colour pictorial artwork by Larry Rostant, illustrated front panel of dw/dj,with capitalised,white lettered author name and sub-title,bright,crisp,embossed gilt-lettered part-title (Trafalgar) to front panel of dw/dj,with thumbnail colour painting detail to head of spine/backstrip of dw/dj with capitalised black-lettered author name on thumbnail detail,flat printed gilt-lettered part-title (Trafalgar) and capitalised white lettered sub-title with b/w illustrated+lettered publisher's colophon to foot,rear panel with b/w painting detail reproduction from The Battle of Trafalgar of 'Captain Harvey of the Temeraire,with part of his brave ship's company,clearing the deck of the French and Spaniards who had succeeded in boarding and striking the British flag' (National Maritime Museum).Negligible shelf-wear,bumping,creasing to edges and corners - no nicks,tears or splits present.Ottakar's SIGNED COPY green+black oval adhesive sticker/label to front panel of dw/dj.Top+fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright,tight, clean,solid and sound - virtually pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners,appears unread - apart from my own collation.Bright,crisp,clean, sharp-cornered,publisher's original plain black cloth boards with bright, crisp,blocked silver gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate b/w line illustrations of ships' outlines to pastedowns and endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,x-xxiiipp+2-392pp [paginated] includes contents list/table,illustrations list/table,an introduction,a prologue,15 chapters,24pp (16pp b/w & 8pp colour) contemporary 19thC b/w illus reproductions and historical colour painting details,in 3 blocks of 8pp apiece,between pp72/3,pp200/01 and pp296/7 respectively,Ships and their Captains,notes,acknowledgements, selected reading,a bibliography and an index. Plus [unpaginated] half-title,author SIGNED title page,b/w facsimile 1805 nautical chart,a dedication,and maps+plans list/table. See my book ID rja1055723 for a UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn (unsigned.) copy of this same title. 'It is necessary for us to be masters of the sea for six hours only,and England will have ceased to exist' Napoleon Bonaparte,June 1805. Just four months later something very different was to happen: Britain,under Nelson,mastered the sea for six hours of the Battle of Trafalgar, annihilating her French and Spanish opponents. This resounding victory paved the way towards Napoleon's defeat,a decade later,at Waterloo.But at Trafalgar,Britain lost her greatest maritime commander. In 'Trafalgar: The Biography of a Battle',Roy Adkins embraces the battle,its prelude and its aftermath,in a narrative that is at once scholarly and breathtakingly exciting.This was the greatest deciding conflict of the Napoleonic Wars - one that Adkins describes,with the use of many newly published first-hand accounts,in mesmerizing,blow-by-blow detail.He evokes a smoke-hazed,claustrophobic world where sixty ships fought at terrifyingly close quarters, where cannon-balls splintered through wooden walls with deafening noise,where searing heat scalded the gun-deck and the surgeon's cockpit became a 'vision of hell'.Nelson,though heavily outnumbered,directed this theatre of war from the outset and,with his calculated risk-taking, changed the course of history. Charting a majesterial route through the mass of contradictory accounts that subsequently appeared,Adkins also describes the scenes of jubilant celebration that followed the triumph of battle,and the hysterical mourning that greeted the tragedy of Nelson's death.Thirty thousand people besieged his coffin,yet an infinitely greater number were affected by Nelson's most lasting legacy - the removal of the threat of invasion of England and Britain's expansion into the largest empire the world has ever seen. Please contact seller,because of the weight/ value of this item for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! - 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/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations 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 AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,author SIGNED 1st edn.
Author SIGNED - without dedication.

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