Alan Villiers : voyager of the winds /Kate Lance ; with a foreword by Robin Knox-Johnston.

This book is a study of the life of Alan Villiers, born in 1903. In 1920 he went to sea on square riggers, but an accident meant that he had to come ashore and turn to journalism. At the age of 25 he returned to sailing on a four-masted barque around Cape Horn. His book about the voyage became a best seller. In 1934 he bought a ship, the Joseph Conrad, and embarked upon a voyage round the world with a crew of young cadets, teaching them seamanship. During the Second World War Villiers served in amphibious operations in the Normandy invasion, around the Mediterranean and in the Far East, ending as a decorated Commander RNVR. He produced many books post-war and became an authority on sail and a vigorous advocate for ship preservation. Appendix A contains information on the production of four-masted iron and steel merchant vessels. Appendix B gives metric conversion tables. There are black and white photographs, extensive notes, an index and a bibliography. There is also a list of Villiers's books and journalism.