0 Rage of Sand: The Story of the Men who Built their Own Seaside Town (Ernest Benn, £2.25) is by Gabriel Harrison, a member of the Committee of Management of the R.N.L.I., and is a very readable account of the growth of St.

Anne's-on-the-Sea, Lancashire, and of the contribution made by landowning families like ihe Cliftons of Lytham Hall and the St. Anne'son- the-Sea Land and Building Company Ltd.

What is, of course, of interest to readers of THE LIFE-BOAT is the chapter headed 'The Laura Janet'. Illustrated with several photographs, it tells the story of the tragedy which befell the crew of the St. Anne's life-boat of that name on 9th December, 1886, with the loss of her whole crew of 13. What happened that night was described in THE LIFE-BOAT for December, 1968, when the Lytham-St. Anne's station was written up in the life-boat station series. The Southport life-boat also capsized that night with heavy loss of life in going to the aid of the same vessel, the Mexico. But from the tragedy came some good. For Mr. Charles Macara, one of the cotton kings from Manchester who later became Sir Charles Macara, M.P., and lived locally, taking a keen interest in the work of thelocal life-boat, founded the Life-boat Saturday Fund. The organisation of the fund was ultimately taken over by the Institution in 1910.

Nationally the twin life-boat tragedies of 1886 had a profound effect and there was a great wave of sympathy, the special local fund eventually reaching £33,000. The last beneficiary died in 1934.

• From the Conway Maritime Press Ltd., 7 Nelson Road, Greenwich, London, S.E.10, comes No. 1 of the Autumn, 1972, issue of Model Shipwright. Costing £3.50 per annum for four issues published in September, December, March and June, the publication, because it is presented as a book with 94 pages of text, photographs and drawings, is mentioned here.

Among the interesting articles are 'Building a 17th Century Dockyard Model', 'Sailmaking', and 'The Carving of Scrollwork'. The introduction gives information about a London company which has promised, 'in spite of the fact that this is an unprofitable trade for them', to supply model makers with quantities of selected timber. This promises to be a most useful publication for the serious ship model maker.—G.R.E.

% The Small Boat Skipper's Safety Book by Denny Desoutter (Hollis & Carter, £1.25) is just the right size for the pocket. It is written by an experienced boat owner and covers the field very thoroughly. The book can be recommended as particularly useful reading for the inexperienced.

Nor would it come amiss for being read by those who like to feel they know all there is to be known about the subject. I liked particularly the last chapter entitled 'Last Look Round Before Setting Sail', giving a practical summary of advice for every prudent seaman, professional or otherwise.—A.R.T.G..