BOOK DETAILS
Trade paper ISBN-13: 978-1941147580 List Price: $17.99 U.S. Pages: 262 Published: 2015 |
An Old Captivity (1940)
Nevil Shute With a new introduction by Rob Spence Due to copyright restrictions, this title is only available to customers in the U.S. and Canada.
Book Description
Donald Ross is a young pilot, out of work and in desperate need of a job. So, despite the extreme danger involved, he jumps at the chance to fly Oxford professor Cyril Lockwood and his daughter Alix to the frozen wilds of Greenland to study Viking ruins. But the perils of the journey are nothing compared to what will happen when they arrive. Ignoring the warnings of the terrified natives, who believe the ruins are haunted, the explorers set up camp there and undergo a strange and mystical experience that will lead to a discovery that none of them could ever have foreseen . . . One of the best-loved novels by Nevil Shute, An Old Captivity (1940) blends romance and aeronautical adventure with a unique and compelling strain of fantasy into a page-turning story with an extraordinary conclusion. This edition, the first to be published in America in decades, features a new introduction by Rob Spence. |
reviews
“Keeps you pegging away, page after page, unwilling to put the book down.” – New York Times
“Mr. Shute knows how to pick astonishing stories and how to keep them moving on non-stop tracks.” – New Republic
“Excellent entertainment, varied and unusual.” – Basil Davenport, Saturday Review of Literature
“Mr. Shute knows how to pick astonishing stories and how to keep them moving on non-stop tracks.” – New Republic
“Excellent entertainment, varied and unusual.” – Basil Davenport, Saturday Review of Literature
|
PAPERBACK
Amazon US Barnes and Noble |
MORE TITLES BY THIS AUTHOR
|
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Nevil Shute Norway was born in London in 1899 and was educated at the Dragon School and Shrewsbury School, Shropshire. Though he completed training at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Shute suffered from a stammer which prevented him from being commissioned. Instead, he served in the British army as a private beginning in August 1918 and afterwards read engineering at Balliol College, Oxford.
From an early age, Shute demonstrated an interest in airplanes, and in 1923 he began working for de Havilland Aircraft Company. During this period, he learned to fly and wrote books in his spare time. His third novel to be completed was his first to be published, Marazan (1926), and it was quickly followed by others, most of them stories of romance and adventure dealing with pilots and aviation. He published under a shortened version of his name, Nevil Shute, in order to keep his writing of popular novels separate from his reputation as an engineer.
In 1931, Shute married Frances Mary Heaton and in the same year founded an aircraft construction company, Airspeed Ltd., which became a major airplane manufacturer in Britain by the end of the decade. In 1938, the board of his company asked Shute to resign; the generous settlement he received allowed him to devote himself to writing full time. His novels during this period often focused on the Second World War and were extremely popular both in England and abroad.
In 1948, Shute flew his own plane to Australia and back and, feeling oppressed by British taxation, emigrated to Australia with his family two years later. His greatest successes, many of them set in Australia, date from this period and include A Town Like Alice (1950), Round the Bend (1951), which he considered his most important work, and his most famous novel, On the Beach (1957).
Shute died in 1960 of a cerebral hemorrhage.
From an early age, Shute demonstrated an interest in airplanes, and in 1923 he began working for de Havilland Aircraft Company. During this period, he learned to fly and wrote books in his spare time. His third novel to be completed was his first to be published, Marazan (1926), and it was quickly followed by others, most of them stories of romance and adventure dealing with pilots and aviation. He published under a shortened version of his name, Nevil Shute, in order to keep his writing of popular novels separate from his reputation as an engineer.
In 1931, Shute married Frances Mary Heaton and in the same year founded an aircraft construction company, Airspeed Ltd., which became a major airplane manufacturer in Britain by the end of the decade. In 1938, the board of his company asked Shute to resign; the generous settlement he received allowed him to devote himself to writing full time. His novels during this period often focused on the Second World War and were extremely popular both in England and abroad.
In 1948, Shute flew his own plane to Australia and back and, feeling oppressed by British taxation, emigrated to Australia with his family two years later. His greatest successes, many of them set in Australia, date from this period and include A Town Like Alice (1950), Round the Bend (1951), which he considered his most important work, and his most famous novel, On the Beach (1957).
Shute died in 1960 of a cerebral hemorrhage.