THE DEADLY STROKE.

UK,slim 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/FINE+.No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated,b/w photographic illustrated upper panel of dw/dj,with red+white lettering,publisher's advert with black text to white background rear panel of dw/dj; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present - a really exceptional condition/state,particularly given the book's age - virtually appears as new! Top+fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners,appears unread - apart from my own collation.Bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered, publisher's original plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp,stamped silver gilt letters to spine/ backstrip and clean blue and b/w map (naval battle of MERS-el-KEBIR) illustrated endpapers.Front free endpaper has previous owner name removed, by a small diagonal clip to top corner,partially affecting text in map's key to symbols used on map.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,11-221pp [paginated] includes acknowledgements,introduction by John Colville, author foreword,16 chapters,8pp contemporary,historical b/w photographs in 4 blocks of 2pp apiece,between pp48/9,pp64/5,pp128/9 and pp144/5 respectively,a single b/w map in the text,a bibliography,list of French dead+wounded,and an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,contents list/ table,and illustrations list/table. On July 3 1940 the Royal Navy attacked and largely destroyed the French Fleet as it lay at its moorings in the harbour of Mers el Kebir.Only two weeks before,French and British had been allies in the war against Germany.To the French the action was murderous aggression; to the sailors who carried it out it seemed incomprehensible folly; to the British Government in London it was grim but unavoidable necessity.A 'Greek Tragedy' Churchill called it,and in the misunderstandings and misjudgments,the increasingly frenzied efforts of the protagonists to avoid disaster and the dreadful inevitablity of the end,all the elements of tragedy were indeed present.Lucidly and skilfully Warren Tute traces the events of those unhappy days: the Royal Navy steaming reluctantly towards its target; the long-drawn out negotiations under the broiling sun; the ten minutes of bombardment which shattered the French Fleet and killed some 1300 sailors.He has studied the action in all its aspects, interviewed many survivors and garnered a rich crop of new and significant information.This research joins with his thrilling powers of story-telling to provide a book of tremendous power,at once as exciting as any of his novels and a genuine contribution to history.To read 'THE DEADLY STROKE' is to live again one of the most dramatic moments of the Second World War. Since April 2013,again in March 2015,and in this year too,the UK Post Office has altered it's Pricing in Proportion template,altering it's prices, weight allowances,dimensions and lowered it's qualifying compensation rates too! So,please contact rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,because of the lighter weight of this item for correct,insured (where necessary) shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!