Lifeboats of the World: A Pocket Encyclopedia of Sea Rescue

New York: Arco Publishing Company, Inc.., 1978. Trade Paperback. Very Good. 5 1/4" X 7 1/2. 256 Pages Indexed. Tight bright book with a slight spine cock. No marks or stamps and pages are white. The first conference of the sea rescue organisations of the world was held in 1924 in London and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution was founded which is now held every four years. In 1963 a highly successful conference was held in Edinburgh attended by nineteen sea rescue organisations from various countries. A number of those sent their latest lifeboats to illustrate improvements in design and techniques. It was suggested that steps should be taken to fill the gaps in order to place on record a comprehensive description of all lifeboat and similar services around the world - whether voluntary or state-run. Each year more and more information comes to light and details are given here of a number of organisations previously not identified. Full technical details of rescue craft mentioned are not given because of limitation of print space. From the historical point of view it has only been possible to touch on the wider aspect of the development of the lifeboat and the responsible organisations. In 1974 the Royal National Lifeboat Institution celebrated its 50th anniversary and an impressive lifeboat exhibition was held at Plymouth. Again, various nations sent examples of their rescue craft, pictures of which are included in the colour section of this book and which give some idea of the wide variety and impressive appearance of modern lifeboats. Thee are illustrations on every page many of which are color plates.There is an Appendix listing the Lifeboat Associations and Sea Rescue Organizations.