Lifeboats by Nicholas Leach, Shire Publications 1998, 32pp, ISBN: 0-7478-0366-8, £2.95

This booklet dropped through the letter-box on the day children were going round classes exchanging coins for life-boat stickers. The school is 'inner-city' but the children never questioned the collection. The RNLI has a part in everyone's life. It is difficult to say anything bad about this book. The pictures which make up half the page space are not 'small', they are clear and detailed it you look carefully - they do repay a careful look. The variety of life boats, the launches, stations and crews are all there. The text covers history to contemporary activity and a preview of the twenty-first century. It includes some useful lists: current stations, museums, associated organisations and further reading. As a reminder of why children chip in their pennies, it has everything. It should be on every cabin book-shelf alongside the pilots. It could be produced as a 'coffee table' show-piece, a fascinating and constant reminder at home. SM (URN 15123)

Page added 27 March 1998

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