North Atlantic Panorama 1900-1976

Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 1977. First Edition. Hardcover. In exceptionally good condition/In exceptionally good condition. Demy folio, [27.75cm/11inches], full gilt-embossed verdant-green cloth with mylar-protected dust jacket, pp. 197, indexed. Illustrated with b-w halftone plates, Please feel free to ask for particulars and/or additional photographs. ... Railways Magazine's obituary noted: "Patrick John Leonard Cosnett Ransome-Wallis was born on January 10, 1906 at Carlton Road, Worksop, Nottinghamshire. From September 1940 to December 1941 Pat served in the new anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Dido, mainly in the Mediterranean theatre and on North Atlantic convoys. He saw action during the evacuation of British forces from Crete, during which Dido was bombed and severely damaged. ... This was followed by a spell of duty in Washington DC, where periods of leave gave the opportunity of photographing and riding behind the giants of American steam, a subject that was to remain dear to his heart. ... Returning to Herne Bay, Pat found it a war-weary and bedraggled place, the sea front full of anti-invasion defences and half the population still evacuated. Somehow he managed to pick up the threads of civilian life and rebuild the private practice “working more hours than ever dreamt of by trade unions”. Pat was within reach of his pre-war standard of living when in 1948 the introduction of the new National Health Service immediately cut his income by some 40%. To make up the shortfall he threw himself into a heavy programme of writing books, articles and photo features on railways and the sea. ... Pat also wrote extensively about ships and the sea and the editor must indulge me if I mention one or two of them. One such was a lavish volume upon Royal Naval reviews at Spithead, the last and greatest of which were the Coronation Reviews of 1938 and 1953. Another was a unique book that brought together both rail and sea, Train Ferries of Western Europe (1968)".