Porto Press Ltd Salt Horse: Memoir of a Maverick Admiral, Claude Lionel Cumberlege

Written originally in 193638 by Admiral Cumberlege as a record of his life, Salt Horse was never published. The original manuscript has been expertly edited and made readable in terms of language to a modern audience. It now comprises chapters on Cumberleges naval career in the RN and Royal Australian Navy and also on the 192238 period when he lived year-round on two large sailing craft, cruising the coasts of France and Spain. Cumberlege writes with some verve. He has strong views, made numerous friends wherever he and his second wife Nora went, and lived a spirited, irreverent and fortunate existence in peace and war. Some of his stories (for instance, about WW1 in New Guinea, or about his 1905 lunch in Gibraltar as a young officer with Kaiser Wilhelm II) are historic and eye-catching. In many ways, the book describes a world, and a way of life, that has disappeared for ever. Salt Horse is complemented with a timeline, family tree and Introduction which trace Cumberleges background. An Afterword takes his life story from 193863 when he died. The numerous black-and-white images and short footnotes bring many of the people mentioned in the text to life. Autorid: Robin Knight, Rear Admiral Mike Harris