 William Morrow & Company 1st Edition |
William Heinemann Ltd 1st Edition
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William Morrow & Company 1st Edition |
William Heinemann Ltd 1st Edition
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"Keith Stewart's life resembled that of thousands of other Englishmen. He lived in Ealing, he was happily married, he worked hard for a small salary, he had a mortgage to pay off - and he was a contented man. In his house he had fixed up a model engineering workshop, and through his contributions to the Minature Mechanic he was known, as his daily post proved to enthusiasts all over the world. One day the tramlines of Keith Stewart's life were torn up. He woke up to find that he had become the trustee of his ten-year-old niece and that he was committed to a wild quest for a cache which his own ingenuity had helped to hide. He began in deep waters - on a 2,000 mile voyage across the Pacific in a small yacht with one companion, and a very strange one at that; and he ended in high altitudes - among the top echelons of American big business. Keith Stewart's happiest discovery, apart from what he set out to find, was that he had more friends in the world than he knew about. |
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This novel was centered around a character named Keith Stewart. a simple man from Shute's hometown of West Ealing (a suburb around London), who shared other similarities with Shute, such as building small scale working model engines, and writing. Like the character in his novel, Shute had his own toolroom, enjoyed building model engines, and, as we know, was a wonderful writer. It is likely that the inspiration for this novel came from an near fatal experience which some of Shute's friends encountered during a boating excursion, and which they later wrote an account of in 1959. Another interesting note regarding this title is that Shute had a stroke, during the time he had been writing this book, resulting in some double vision. After the stroke he continued working on the novel, with an eye patch, to prevent the vision distraction. |
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(1) The book's dust jacket cover should match the image shown at the left. (2) Unless the price has been removed by additional clipping after the original purchase, the dust jacket should show the resale price on the upper inside front flap. (3) The book must not show any later printings of that same edition (such as a second or greater printing as shown below) on the copyright page. (4) The book should show William Morrow consistently as the publisher. |
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(1) The book's dust jacket cover should match the image shown at the left. (2) A price of 16S is shown on the bottom of inside front flap. (3) The book is in burgundy colored cloth with gold print on the spine. (4) The book should show publication date of 1960 with no additional printings shown. (5) The book should indicate that it was printed in Great Britain by The Windmill Press Ltd, Kingswood, Surrey. (6) The book should consistently indicate that Heinemann is the publisher. |
| *The collecting tips on the The Nevil Shute Book Page website are only provided as a tool to assist in identifying the original publications of Nevil Shute titles. Several people have generously contributed information and images to enhance its appearance and accuracy, however, please keep in mind that this site will always be a work in progress and have the potential for error. Regardless of the author you collect, I would strongly recommend that consumers/collectors never rely solely on a single source for determining the value or status of their book, including this website. Always seek multiple reliable resources to evaluate your edition. |
