Reviews for The Small-Boat Skipper's Safety Book

The average rating for The Small-Boat Skipper's Safety Book based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-05-03 00:00:00 David Balog Jack Ashley was a Labour MP of the "old school" left school at 14 years old, worked as a labourer, became a union organiser, then elected a town councillor in his home town of Widnes. His big break came when he went to Ruskin College, Oxford and then Cambridge, this opened up a whole new world to him and he became a producer first in radio and then in television. In 1966 he was elected MP for Stoke on Trent, however the next year his world came crashing down when a failed ear operation left him totally deaf. However with the help of family and friends he fought back and became the first profoundly deaf MP. Jack Ashley had always had an interest in helping the disabled, following his own trauma he worked tirelessly for the disabled and disadvantaged. Jack Ashley tells his story simply but very movingly, I relly enjoyed this book

Review # 2 was written on 2010-02-04 00:00:00 Dave Bart Not nearly as interesting as his later "memoir" It Was the Nightingale, but still thoroughly enjoyable as a time-passer with a seemingly effortless master. It isn't as structured with a multi-directional time flow as the later book, so from a technical stand point it's not as engaging. This comes highly recommended to anyone obsessed with the Pre-Raphaelites, as the launching pad for the book is Ford's grandfather Ford Madox Brown who was one of the originals of that brotherhood, and had a big old house where many of the principals gathered. Fordie covers lots of the gossip, including some rather dry discussions of book and painting deals and poetry readings. There are also special appearances by Oscar Wilde, Turgenev, Swinburne, et al. Now I must move on to his novels.