This is the story of two single-handed non-stop round-the-world voyages: Robin Knox-Johnston's in 1968/69 and Ellen MacArthur's in 2004/05. Although there were similarities – both voyages started and finished in Falmouth, for instance, and neither sailor was in a conventional race – the story is mainly one of contrasts, mostly as a consequence of thirty-six years of technological developments. These gave MacArthur the opportunity for a considerably faster voyage, but that ...

In May 1940, following the rapid advance of German troops through Holland, Belgium and France, the British Expeditionary Force and French army retreated to Dunkirk. Operation Dynamo was instigated in an attempt to rescue as many of them as possible. With the harbour at Dunkirk severely damaged, much of the evacuation would have to take place from the beaches; only small, shallow-draught boats could do this. After appealing to boatyards, yacht clubs and yachtsmen throughout the South East o...

Featuring 180 wonderful images, Classic Boats offers an accessible, beautifully illustrated guide to some of the stunning craft that can be seen around the shores of Europe today. Covering a wide range of vessels – some dating back to the nineteenth century and extensively restored, while others are just a few years old – Nigel Sharp’s writing and photographs truly bring the subject to life. Classic boat regattas continue to grow in number and popularity throughout the world, and the breat...

This is the story of how the Second World War affected leisure boating: of the people who managed to overcome huge difficulties to go sailing during the war itself and the difficulties of re-establishing the sport in post-war years; of the sailing and yacht clubs which survived bombings, requisitioning, shortages and a host of other problems, and still thrive today. Its comprehensive account includes the yachting magazines which managed to continue to publish throughout the war; the large ...

St Mawes Sailing Club was founded in 1920 and has functioned without interruption from that date, with the exception of the war years. Today it is a vibrant club with around 1,800 members. Every year it provides numerous sailing opportunities – both for local people and for holiday visitors – including around sixty club races; championship events for at least half a dozen classes, both traditional and modern; several cruises-in-company to other local ports; and formal instruction and races...

On 3 August 2012, as London was gripped by the Olympics, Tia Sharp, a 12-year old schoolgirl, was reported missing from her grandmother's home in New Addington, south London. A call made by her mother, Natalie, alerted police to Tia's disappearance and so began a massive search operation to find the missing girl. Police were seconded from the Olympic village to make house-tohouse enquiries, while locals searched the nearby area.A Twitter campaign began, sparking a nationwide appeal to find...

The nation's favourite annual guide to the short story, now in its ninth year.Best British Short Stories invites you to judge a book by its cover – or more accurately, by its title. This new series aims to reprint the best short stories published in the previous calendar year by British writers, whether based in the UK or elsewhere. The editor's brief is wide ranging, covering anthologies, collections, magazines, newspapers and web sites, looking for the b...

The final series of Charles Chilton’s classic 1950s sci-fi trilogy and the gripping 1981 sequelWritten by veteran radio producer Charles Chilton, Journey into Space kept Light Programme listeners enraptured between 1953 and 1958. Almost eight million people tuned in to the interstellar adventures of Jet Morgan and his intrepid crew, making it the last UK radio drama serial to beat television in the ratings. This audio collection contains the complete Serie...