Paperback Of
p. 93 · Read in the full issue
The Month
A gripping and extraordinary story among recent paperbacks is Alex ander McKee's "The Golden Wreck" (Four Square, 5/6), which tells of the wreck of the big auxiliary steam, clipper "Royal Charter" on the coast of Wales in 1859.
Although the wreck occurred only a few yards from the shore, 450 men, women and children lost their lives —some of them drowning when they tried to escape with gold that they had brought from the Australian gold diggings.
On the day and day after the "Royal Charter" was wrecked, 133 ships were sunk, 90 were badly damaged, and about 800 lives were lost in British waters as unprecedented winds, of 100 mph and more, howled across Britain.