Sir Francis Chichester: The Lonely Sea and the Sky

By MARGIE THOMSON

First published in 1964, this is the first paperback edition of Sir Francis Chichester's autobiography, written the year he was runner-up in the second solo transatlantic race when he was already in his mid-60s.

His life of extraordinary adventures included emigrating to New Zealand with only £10 in his pocket, many jobs, being a leader in the early aviation field and his 1929 solo flight from England to Australia, and his sailing feats, which included his remarkable single-handed crossing of the Atlantic in 1962.

Described in the introduction as one of the really great men of our time "in the line of great individualists who have enriched human history", the book is written in the phlegmatic, understated tone of the older generation, self-observant but not unnecessarily introspective, and always full of action.

Summersdale

$29.95