MAN of WAR.** [Author SIGNED copy.**]

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,author SIGNED,1st edn. VG++/FINE. No owner inscrptn but author's neat,handwritten ink signature - without dedication - to a sporadically but faint,foxed/ spotted title page,and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp, clean,matt colour pictorial artwork by Chris Collingwood, illustrated dw/dj panels+spine,with capitalised,blue-grey-lettered author name,capitalised gilt-lettered title and black-lettered strap-line to front panel of dw/d along with a cirular adhesivej black label with white lettered 'SIGNED FIRST EDITION' label; spine/backstrip with repeated but thumbnail illustrations from front and similarly coloured+ lettered title+author name as front,and publisher's capitalised,white-lettered name to foot of same,rear panel with repeated but smaller scaled front's illustration and 3 critics' black-lettered reviews.Top-edges lightly toned with faint dust-flecking,fore-edges similarly affected; contents bright,tight,clean solid and sound with just the prelims up to Contents list/table showing minimal,sporadic and faint traces of foxing - no intentional dog-ear reading creases to pages' corner tips other than an accidental double-fold crease to lower corner tip of pp235/36 and leaving a decreasing faint fold impressions to a few preceding pages' concomitant corners - else would appear unread, apart from my own collation. Publisher's bright,crisp, unblemished,sharp-cornered,original navy-blue cloth boards with bright,crisp.blocked gilt-lettered spine/ backstrip,a blue+white striped headband and immaculate blue+black illustrated endpapers (a 3-deck First Rate Line-of-batlle ship c.1827).UK,8vo HB+dw/dj, author SIGNED,1st edn,vii-viiipp+1-349pp [paginated] includes a Foreword, XXII (22) chapters and an Afternote; plus [unpaginated] half-title with 8 previously published titles list to its reverse,an author SIGNED title page,a Contents list/table with a 2 b/w Maps [Regional+Battle formation/plan respectively] list/table to its reverse,a title separator page with a b/w map of the Mediterranean and the ship' s course to its reverse,and to the rear,Matthew Hervey's Curriculum Vitae and 4pp blanks. Visually the exterior appearance is aceptable,and even internally,the book is in a more than acceptable condition/ state of preservation and presentation for a book of its 15+ year-old age. It is only the minor exterior fault and the interior's minimal faults,that prevents a slightly higher overall grading - certainly for the book itself. Despite them,it really is still an acceptable example for its collectors,especially as an author SIGNED example. Captain Sir Laughton Peto,recently engaged to Matthew Hervey?s sister,Elizabeth,has just taken command of HMS Prince Rupert,the only three-deck line-of-battle ship in commission.He is the proud master of a wooden fortress whose formidable firepower is the equal of Bonaparte?s grand battery at Waterloo. But his passage to the Ionian - where Admiral Codrington is assembling an Anglo-Russian -French fleet to evict the Turks from Greek waters - will not be smooth sailing.First he must exercise his crew,most of whom have not seen action before.He has also been entrusted with the safe passage to Malta of the Admiral?s youngest daughter. Six months on,and Matthew Hervey is in London recovering from another bout of malaria and the wound from his battle with the Zulu.All is set fair for his marriage to the eminently suitable Lady Lankester,and his subsequent return to active duty at the Cape. But trouble lies ahead as familial commitments clash with affairs of the heart, and Hervey finds himself embroiled in a military enquiry that can, at best,spell personal embarrassment,and that could result in public humiliation. As the cataclysmic battle of Navarino Bay looms ever closer for Peto and his crew,the full outcome of which is not known in London even six months later,Hervey faces a crisis that could change both his life and his military career. Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,that stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of any inexpensive book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **