A Flock Of Ships [Paperback]

Brian Callison (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Fontana; 2698 edition (1971)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0006126987
• ISBN-13: 978-0006126980
• ASIN: B000S39AF0
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Brian Callison is the author of 22 best-sellers published by HarperCollins, Severn House, Futura, and Ostara. His novels have been translated into over a dozen languages including Japanese, Polish, Icelandic and Finnish. They have been printed in Braille, released as audio books, issued in large print editions and are used as creative writing references by several international learning institutions.

A former Merchant Navy officer sailing in cargo liners to Australia and the Far East, Callison subsequently worked in commerce before becoming a full-time author. Following service with the 51st Highland Division Provost Company (TA), Royal Military Police, he returned to his seafaring roots to maintain an active 35-year connection with ships as a Naval Control of Shipping Officer in the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service.

More recently he completed a three-year tenure at the University of Dundee as a Fellow of The Royal Literary Fund. His latest title to be reissued in print is 'A Flock Of Ships' (Ostara Publishers 2011: also available on Amazon Kindle). On first publication of that now-classic work, Alistair McLean wrote, "The best war story I have ever read. No qualifications, no reservations, no exceptions as to type and time: it's the best. Makes 'All Quiet On The Western Front' look like one of the lesser works of Enid Blyton".

He continues to help new writers become published writers (www.writermentoring.co.uk). 'Hopefully putting something back into a trade that has been good to me.' Writing: guiding aspiring novelists: teasing out the very essence of professionally-competent authorship is what he excels at, and he submits a portfolio comprising some two million published words as evidence.

'A Ship is Dying' is his second title to be published in electronic format. A further 17 Callison titles are scheduled for release as Kindle eBooks during the winter/ spring period 2011/2012.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great war story, October 21, 2001

By 

"mattp2" (Dunellen, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flock of Ships (Paperback)

I remember this book being on my fathers bookshelf when i was a kid. I can still remember asking him what it was about. So, recently I was obliged to finally read the book. I can honestly say it is one of the top ten books i have have ever read. The story starts off at a fast pace and never stops. If you are a fan of World War Two naval action, do yourself a favor and read this book. The story goes: A survey vessel enters the harbor of an island in the middle of nowhere to find the rusting hulks of some merchant vessels and German submarines. After searching one the freighters they find a ship's log which tells the story of the fateful trip. The rest of the story is told in flasback to world war two through the log. The version I have has a quote from Alistair Maclean on the back cover, "This is the best war story I have ever read". I would have to agree.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Logbook entry left undone, March 16, 2002

By 

Alphonse G. Mongeau (Brooklyn , NY, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flock of Ships (Paperback)

This book certainly has all the details of military and civilian shipboard life done in a way that is sure to keep your interest. Historically set in World War II, the ship's log details how these vessels came to this remote island ,and the fate of the crews who had manned the ships. The dialog is quick paced and mirrors the attitudes of the Allied crews vs. their German adversaries. If you want to explore a sea mystery from a bygone era; I would recommend that you try this one, for its rendering of the seafarers' trials during the time when the Allied victory hinged on the performance of civilians, as well as military personnel. Their heroism has been overlooked for the most part in history books, but you will find it vividly described here in their performance under adversity.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best nautical yarn I've ever read, January 8, 2011

By 

D. Thomas Longo Jr. (Delmar, MD USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Flock of Ships (Paperback)

Decades ago I acquired a Berkley paperback of this book copyrighted 1970 and read it for the first time around then. It stuck in my mind since then as a gripping seafaring mystery yarn. Last month (Dec. 2010) I plucked the now-crumbling paperback from my shelf to re-read during Chrismas travel. It grabbed me again immediately and I devoured it. With the perspective of time I now regard it as the the best sea-based novel I've ever read. It combines elements of real mystery with nautical verisimilitude, interesting characters, and a palpable sense of English merchant marine-ing during WWII. Not to be overlooked is the ship's engineer, a Scotsman, and his obsession over his wee engines akin to the famous Star Trek character Scotty. And the villain(s), when you find out who and how they are, prove to be really such. And then there is a certain old gun named Phyllis...

Long story short, I was delighted to find this still available on Amazon and have just ordered two copies, one to replace my physically crumbling one and the other as a gift for a fellow U.S. Navy veteran.