NO ESCAPE FROM ADVENTURE. by Bruce, Michael, Sir. 11th Baronet of Stenhouse and Airth - 1955

New York: Hastings House, 1955. 263 pp, 8vo (8 1/4" H). B&w photographs. "A financial disaster prevented (Sir Michael Bruce) from following the family tradition of becoming an officer in the crack Royal Regiment known as 'The Gunners', so he enlisted in the British South African Police. At seventeen, he shot his first man; at eighteen he hunted a double-murderer across the velds of Rhodesia. By the time he was twenty-four he had fought (and was twice wounded) at ill-fated Gallipoli and on the western front through the Great War of 1914-19. Excitement dogged his footsteps as he sailed round the Horn in a windjammer; fought in a Brazilian revolution; crossed the Andes on foot; was nearly killed in a stampede of wild cattle; and was the sole survivor of a gold-seeking hunt in the Amazon. Back in England, jobless, he did a stint as a reporter on a gossip 'sheet'; became a stunt actor, then press agent, in the movies; and in 1938, on the continent, established an underground for Jews fleeing from Hitler's persecution, subsequently himself falling into the hands of the Gestapo. At Dunkirk in World War II, Sir Michael ferried British soldiers across the Channel, then got into the RAF - and into more hair-raising incidents." Bequest bookplate on free front endpaper, slight browning to endpapers, light browning to edges of text block, slight browning on spine, light wrinkling at top of spine, small label from bookstore on rear pastedown. Dust jacket has several small edge tears and creases, small chip at top of spine, creases at bottom of front panel, minor foxing at top inside edge, minor rubbing and soiling. . Hard Cover. Very Good/Good-.