• In Rescue Call (Kaye & Ward, 2is.) Angus Mac Vicar has written an admirable brief history of the life-boat service. It is extremely readable and a great deal of information has been packed into no more than 128 pages. Many of the familiar stories are retold, including the exploit of Grace Darling and her father and the rescues from the Indian Chief in 1881, the Rohilla in 1914 and the Daunt Rock lightvessel in 1936. Mr. MacVicar has, however, called on his own first hand knowledge to recount rescues which are less well known. Most of these took place off the south west coast of Scotland where he himself was a member of the Southend (Kintyre) Life-Saving Apparatus Crew.

Having made the point that St. Columba must have been a superb seaman, he brings home the hazards facing those who have carried out rescues on this part of the coast. One curious tale tells of how the Campeltown life-boat saved two men who were being towed out into the Atlantic by a basking shark which they were anxious to capture.

Other rescues are recalled in the words of the former coxswain, Duncan Newlands. These accounts are particularly vivid, and at one point the ex- coxswain describes how a member of his crew lifted and heaved men from the United States liberty ship aboard the life-boat 'like a hammer-thrower at the Highland Games'. A moment of crisis is also recalled when the coxswain declined to take a case of whisky aboard in addition to more than 50 survivors.

One of the problems facing all historians of the life-boat service is to keep the story up to date in view of the many changes taking place. Mr. MacVicar has been able to include a description of the yo-foot steel life-boat, and at one point he calls attention to the type of protective clothing used by the United States Coast Guard and comments: 'It seems to me they allow much more freedom of action than do stiff oil- skins and bulky life-jackets. Is there an idea here for the Institution ?' He was not to know when he wrote this of the R.N.L.I.'s latest developments in protective clothing and life-jackets.

The book is well printed, with attractive chapter headings, and has some excel- lent illustrations, including one of the Sumner life-boat in New Zealand rescuing the one-man crew of a bath-tub.

Mr. MacVicar is guilty of one slight inaccuracy when he states that the R.N.L.I. has always been supported entirely by voluntary contributions. There was, of course, a period from 1854 to T 9 when a Government subsidy had to be accepted.

• One of many magnificent photographs in The Sea by Robert C. Miller (Nelson, 4 guineas), a beautifully illustrated work, is a picture of a Dutch life- boat at sea.• Britain and America - an English language primer by Dr. Maria Alpers and Dr. Herbert Voges (Velhagen & Klasing Berlin und Bielefeld) includes an account of a service by the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston life-boat to the Dutch oil tanker Georgia November in 1927. It wrongly attributes the award of the gold medal to the Great Yarmouth coxswain. The gold medal for this service was, in fact, awarded to Coxswain Henry Blogg of Cromer.—P.H.

• The Sea, Thine Enemy by Captain Kenneth Langmaid, D.S.C., R.N. (Jarrolds, 355.) is in fact a comprehensive survey of coastal lights and life-boat service.

This is undoubtedly a book which may be read with profit and interest by all seamen, professional or amateur.

There are three main sections under the headings (I) Lighthouses (II) Light vessels and (III) Life-boats. In each of these even the most knowledgeableseafarer is almost certain to find much absorbing information. For instance, one can hardly fail to be impressed by the amazing ingenuity, persistence and bravery of the early lighthouse engineers and builders, many of whom lost their lives in their endeavours. And not only disasters but mysteries such as the disappearance of all the keepers of the lonely light on Eilean More, which almost suggests a visit from outer space.

The steady growth of the life-boat service and the splendid courage and deter- mination of the coxswains and crews are recorded in seamanlike terms. The close association of Trinity House and the R.N.L.I. - which many people are apt to think of as one organization - is clearly emphasized by the accounts of life-boat assistance to lightships and lighthouses. These indeed are very real examples of the brotherhood of the sea.

• Wreck and Rescue in the Bristol Channel by Grahame Farr (D. Bradford Barton Ltd., Truro, 305.) tells in the first of two volumes the story of the English life- boats in those waters.

Of the life-boat stations detailed in the book - Clovelly, Appledore - Northam Burrows, Braunton Burrows, Motre bay, Ilfracombe, Lynmouth, Minehead, Watchet, Burnham-on-sea and Weston-super-Mare - six are no longer in existence. In the main, as the author states, this is due to the advent of the motor life-boat with its increased range and capabilities, but the decline of coastwise shipping and the passing of sail have also contributed largely. To speak of the passing of sail is not entirely correct as it may be noted that life-boat services to vessels under sail - yachts, nowadays - have increased considerably of recent years.

To many people the difficulties and dangers of navigating the Bristol Channel will be well known, but even so this astonishing record of the bravery, endurance and humanity of the seamen in these waters must have a tremendous impact.

This is a book which those who love the sea will read with pride, and humility.

• The Third Boat by Leila Mackinlay (Ward Lock & Co. Ltd., I2s. 6d.) takes its title from a Manx superstition and this pleasant but somewhat fragmentary tale is rarely out of sight or sound of the sea. Moving from Morecambe Bay to the Isle of Man, with a brief visit to London, the story opens with a young author 216 intrigued by an old painting of a beautiful young woman. It traces the history of her family with more than one tragic incident and ends with the narrator falling in love with a descendant - the living image of the old portrait.

Life-boats figure prominently and there is much to interest anyone, who knows Morecambe Bay and the Isle of Man; and, indeed, those who do not.

• Sea Rescue by Gardner Soule (Macrae Smith Company, Philadelphia) is written by a journalist and brings an urgent, exciting interest to a wide range of dramatic sea stories. Ranging from the recovery of splashed-down spacemen to broken tankers and solitary fishermen, there is something of vital interest for anyone who knows or wishes to know the meaning of disaster at sea. The author has included several chapters dealing with the Royal National Life-boat Insti- tution and shows a picture of the first American life-boat donated by the British organization in 1871. A chapter on the recovery of the H-bomb from the sea bed off Palomares gives some indication of the problems which have to be faced today and of the highly sophisticated craft and equipment in use.

• Rescue At Sea by John M. Waters, Jr. Captain U.S. Coast Guard (D. Van Nostrand Company Inc.) This well produced and strikingly illustrated book written by a senior officer of the U.S. Coast Guard makes fascinating and absorbing reading of the work of sea rescue in all its wide applications today.

Rescues by ship, boat, helicopter, fixed wing aircraft and skin divers are des- cribed in crisp detail. The emphasis, however,is on helicopter work. It is interest- ing to note the large number of casualties at sea which are due to illness or accident rather than wind or weather and some hazardous rescue trips were necessary in order to render assistance to people with appendicitis and a variety of other acute attacks, some real, some imaginary. Cuban refugees and some activities in support of the law which would not normally be described as 'rescue work' also come within the scope of the U.S. Coast Guard service. In all, a most interesting book for all who like sea stories and one of considerable value in the study of present day sea rescue work. —E.W.M..