0 It must be almost impossible to write an uninteresting book about the lifeboat service but equally difficult to do full justice to the subject. A. D.

Farr has achieved the difficult task of writing a splendidly comprehensive account of the birth and development of sea rescue in Britain and his book Let Not The Deep: The Story of the RNLI, by A. D. Farr (Impulse Books, Aberdeen, £3.95) should remain a standard work for a long time.

The title comes from the inscription on the RNLI medals for gallantry, 'Let not the deep swallow me up', which in turn was taken from Psalm 69. The book comes opportunely to mark the 150th anniversary of the RNLI, doyen of sea rescue organisations. Many books have been written about the RNLI and most, if not all, have provided absorbing reading in their different ways, but no previous volume has covered the whole period of organised sea rescue in such meticulous detail.

The author has wisely refrained from resuscitating the old argument as to 'who invented the lifeboat'. At this distance the claims of Wouldhave, Greathead and Lukin may be viewed dispassionately and an equal distribution of merit seems judicious. Admiral Smyth in The Sailor's Word Book states unequivocally that 'The lifeboat was invented by Admiral Graves'. It would be interesting to know the source of this information.

If anything Sir William Hillary increases in stature in Mr Farr's hands, both as a man of action and a man of ideas. The year 1824 must have been an annus mirabilis for Hillary for it not only saw the birth of his brain child, the RNLI, but also the publication of his 'Plan for the construction of a steam lifeboat'. It is recorded elsewhere that he published a pamphlet on 'The situation in Ireland' in the same year. Truly a man of wide interests.

The progress of lifeboat design and of the factors which have led to the many changes over the years are described clearly and with some care, taking the reader in easy stages from the Original to the present day. It is noted that the beam of the Original is given as 3' 3" which must be an error. The self-righting dispute and the appointment of G. L.

Watson as consulting naval architect are particularly interesting in the light of today's policy of giving all lifeboats self-righting ability. The 32' surf boats of the 1930s might have merited some attention in view of their use of Gill water-jet and Hotchkiss cone propulsion.

The redoubtable Captain Manby has suffered a literal change and become Manley, to which he might not have objected. Not only had his method of line-throwing from the shore by means of a mortar proved effective but he had also carried out an investigation of the various sea rescue organisations round the coast in 1821 and reported unfavourably on many of them.

One aspect of sea rescue which does not seem to have caught the attention of most writers on the subject is the use of tugs. At a number of stations tugs were hired to tow the lifeboat to the scene of the wreck when necessary, a notable example being the service of the Ramsgate boat to the Indian Chief. In this case the crew of the tug Vulcan shared much of the hardship and danger faced by the lifeboatmen. There must be many more unsung heroes.

In all, this is an excellent book for the student of sea rescue and, as Sir Alec Rose says in his foreword, for all those who love the sea and admire and respect the men who man the lifeboats.

—E.W.M.

• Beloved, Respected and Lamented: A Story of the Mutiny of the Bounty, by J. E. Chandler (London Road, Marlborough, Wiltshire, 50p) is a publication of 45 pages giving some new angles on this well-known mutiny.

Details are given of the 46 people aboard the Bounty when she sailed on December 23, 1787, into history. The author concludes: 'We know of no single act of gross tyranny he committed. His valour and his strength of body and character are not to be disputed. But he was notorious, even in the rough Navy of the 18th century, for a foul mouth and he did not know how to stop.' • On the Welsh coast north of the Bristol channel safe harbours are few and far between. In fact, apart from Fishguard and Holyhead there is little chance of shelter in onshore gales.

Shipwrecks of North Wales, by IvorWynne Jones (David & Charles, £3.25) tells the story of the many disasters to shipping on this coast over the centuries, with some harrowing accounts of unsuccessful struggles for survival. Lifeboats and their crews receive a full share of attention and there is much of interest about stations which have been closed for many years. Lifeboat disasters, too, add to the toll taken by violent weather and the dangerous coastline. The book is written in clear, seaman-like language and there are some excellent illustrations.

• In the past few years many hoards of 'lost' regional photographs, dating from the early days, have come to light.

These collections, suitably captioned, are appearing in illustrated book form, Island Camera: The Isles of Scilly in the Photography of the Gibson family, by John Arlott in collaboration with Rex Cowan and Frank Gibson (David and Charles, £3.25), being among the latest.

The book contains 150 photographs, many of them of nautical interest, taken over more than a century by the Gibson family—five men in four generations— in the Isles of Scilly. Broken masts and tattered sails are a feature of many of the unique wreck pictures. But as for lifeboat pictures, in an area where the RNLI has left its mark since a station was established at St Mary's in 1837, your reviewer could trace only one photograph in the book—the launching of the lifeboat Canard.—C.R.E.

% Because, as the author states, sailing covers such a wide sphere, the author of Modern Small Boat Sailing by John Hart (G. Bell, £3.50), has limited himself throughout the book to dinghies and day-boat types up to about 18' in length, although reference to larger craft is sometimes made where desirable. The book is based on the syllabus of the new National Proficiency Scheme introduced in January 1972 by the RYA and the National Schools' Association. Well illustrated, the book forms a complete reference manual for all who seek enjoyment in small sailing boats.

0 Now in its eleventh edition, Boat World (Boat World Publications, £1) has long established its place as an invaluable yearbook for yachting and boating people, containing as it does brief navigational notes, some practical articles, information about coastal sailing centres (including the nearest lifeboat station), together with details and prices of a wide range of sailing boats, motor boats and engines. Perhaps, however, the part of the book which is in most constant use is the one devoted to classified and alphabetical lists of all sections of the boating industry. A publication well worth its cost, £1, for the addresses it contains alone.—J.D..