Welcome to Daredevil Books, the home of classic accounts of bravery and derring-do
OUR LATEST EDITION
'KING SOLOMON'S MINES'
By H. RIDER HAGGARD
King Solomon's Mines was written by Sir H. Rider Haggard as a result of a five-shilling wager with his brother, who said that he could not write a novel half as good as Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Published in 1885 it is regarded as the progenitor of the Lost World literary genre. The dramatic story relates the exciting search for King Solomon's legendary diamond mines by a group of adventurers led by Allan Quartermain. Set in an unexplored region of Africa they are guided by an ancient map, inscribed in blood. On their tense expedition they encounter inhospitable terrain and survive a tribal war before finding the mines and escaping with some of the diamonds. The book's publication was dramatically heralded with billboards and posters around London announcing "The Most Amazing Book Ever Written".
The book became an immediate best seller and is now considered to be one of the best adventure novels in the English language.
With a special introduction by Giles Foden, Professor of Creative Writing at University of East Anglia, and author of 'The Last King of Scotland'
'FLYING FURY'
By James McCudden VC
James McCudden 28 March 1895 – 9 July 1918) was a British flying ace of the First World War and among the most highly decorated airmen in British military history. His daring exploits earned him a tremendous reputation and, ultimately, an untimely end. 'Flying Fury' is a gripping first hand account of some of aviation history’s most dramatic episodes in a memoir completed at the tender age of twenty-three, just days before his tragic death.
Page down to see our current portfolio of Daredevil editions below and double click on any of the books below to visit our store.
'THE RED KNIGHT OF GERMANY'
The original biography of Manfred von Richthofen
PASSAGE’ IS THE SHOCKING ACCOUNT of the tragic John Franklin Expedition, brilliantly told in the debut novel by Angus Wardlaw, descendant of Captain Francis Crozier who commanded the
HMS Terror, sister ship to the HMS Erebus. Wardlaw dramatically unveils the spine-tingling true story of this ambitious but ultimately fated expedition, that ended in death and cannibalism.
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Reading at times like a thriller the meticulously researched, ‘Passage’ relates the history, horror and extreme challenges to human fortitude faced by the crews of the two ships; familiar to many from ‘The Terror’ – the chilling Ridley Scott produced TV series.
This high quality first edition comes in a cloth covered hardback with creme paper and features a cover design by award-winning designer, Paul Belford.
‘This is a book you will find hard to forget; a riveting and terrifying journey’.
‘A disaster of this measure looks for an explanation of equal magnitude’.
Sir Michael Palin, Erebus: The Story of a Ship
Baron Manfred von Richthofen, Germany’s renowned First World
War flying ace, was known as 'The Red Knight' or more commonly
after the war as 'The Red Baron' due to the colour of his Albatros
aeroplane. He was attributed with eighty 'kills' before losing his life
in action in 1918.
Written by a remarkable war correspondent, Floyd Gibbons,
shortly after the cessation of hostilities The Red Knight is a
fascinating insight into the life of this most ruthless and talented
war pilot. Gibbons had access to extensive first-hand sources
including personal letters from von Richthofen to his mother.
He also interviewed airmen who had survived aerial combat with
the uncompromising von Richthofen, who wrote before his death,
'I have not found a happier hunting ground than the Battle of The
Somme'.
With a special foreword by Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC who wrote of
von Richthofen.
'He is widely hailed as the ‘greatest fighter pilot who has ever lived’.
in hardback for £25.95
in hardback for £25.95
'Revolt In The Desert' by T.E. Lawrence
‘REVOLT IN THE DESERT’ is a gripping first hand account of the Arab Revolt of 1916-1918.
An abridged version of ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom; originally written by T.E. Lawrence after the war for his friends, it is a classic narrative of one of the most astonishing adventures of the First World War.
‘Lawrence of Arabia’, as Lawrence became known, led the uprising with the charismatic Sherif Feisal that sounded the death knell for the Ottoman Empire and changed the geopolitics of the Middle East.
Lawrence is a great writer and compelling storyteller and reveals himself to be a brilliant military strategist with a unique knowledge of the region and the Arab people.
Sir Winston Churchill wrote of him ‘I deem him to be one of the greatest beings alive in our time…we shall never see his like again. His name will live in history’.
Our Daredevil Books edition is an illustrated hardback featuring 50 original photographs including many taken by T.E. Lawrence himself.
'Passage' by Angus Wardlaw
‘A disaster of this measure looks for an explanation of equal magnitude' - Sir Michael Palin
In 1845, the Sir John Franklin Expedition set out in their ships to find the fabled Northwest Passage - a direct trade route to the Far East that could bring untold wealth and power to the British Empire.
But, tragedy grips when the sailors find that the tinned supplies in their holds are filled with nothing but rotting filth and gore.
Trapped in sea ice, and with the body count rising, their troubled leader must take his starving, frozen men off the ice and begin a 500-mile death march across the brutal High Arctic.
This is the true, epic story of brotherhood, heroism, and the abandonment of 129 men who were left to do whatever they could to survive…
About the Author
This is Angus Wardlaw’s debut novel and one that has been some years in the crafting. After an award-
winning career in advertising, where he came up with the ‘great minds don't think alike’ campaign for
the Independent and ‘free your mind’ for Citroen he is now following the same dream of fellow
copywriters such as James Patterson, Joseph Heller, Dorothy Sayers, Don DeLillo and even F. Scott
Fitzgerald.
Angus is a former soldier and intelligence officer as well as a descendant of Captain FRM Crozier. He lives
in London on a boat moored in the same dock that one of the rescue expeditions set off from to rescue
Sir John Franklin in 1847. He has long been intrigued by his forebear’s part in this expedition and also written a screenplay of the book.
Recently Published
'Captain Blood' by Rafael Sabatini
'Glorious.. I have never enjoyed a novel more than Captain Blood' - Norman Mailer
During the turbulent reign of James II, Peter Blood, gentleman surgeon and former soldier barely escapes the gallows after his arrest for treating a wounded 'Monmouth' rebel.
He is unfairly sentenced to ten years indentured slavery on a Barbados plantation by the notorious 'Hanging Judge' Judge Jeffreys. Blood escapes his captivity and then embarks on a career as a pirate before clearing his name and returning to England to be reunited with the love of his life, Arabella Bishop.
A rollicking tale of piracy on a grand scale, this is the classic novel of maritime adventure and romance.
Sabatini dramatically brings the past to life with great accuracy and his swashbuckling tale bristles with excitement as we follow the high seas adventures of his honourable hero, Captain Blood.
'Captain Blood is the very beau ideal of a pirate' - New York Times Book Review
'Buckles never swashed more dashingly' - John Sutherland
'My Thirty Years of Speed' is the autobiography of Sir Malcolm Campbell.
Born on 11 March 1885, he developed a passion for speed early in his life.
A pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during World War 1 Campbell had already started racing cars at Brooklands in 1910, and in 1912 suffered the first of many near-fatal accidents.
He christened his first and subsequent cars ‘Blue Bird’, after a stage play by
Maurice Maeterlinck.
First breaking the land speed record at Pendine Sands in September 1924,
he then went on to become the first man to exceed 150mph in the following
July. In February 1931, he set a new land speed high of 231.4mph at
Daytona, Florida, for which he was knighted by King George V. His final
land speed record attempt was on the Bonneville Salt Flats at the age of fifty when his last ‘Blue Bird’ topped 300mph in September 1935.
His narrative is riveting as he describes the thrill and challenges of racing at speed as well as his adventures treasure-hunting and near death scrapes in aeroplanes. Available in hardback and paperback our edition include over 60 photographs.
'Tales of Hazard' is the only record of some unique BBC radio broadcasts organised by the BBC in the summer of 1932 under the title of the 'Hazard Series'. Each broadcast was given by a man who had risked his life for his country or was simply fighting to tay alive in the face of uneven odds. From the bravery of a 'Q' ship captain and the U Boat commander who tried to sink him to fierce desert fighting in the French Foreign Legion, survival in the jungle and the account of a Zeppelin commander being shot down over London, these tales are extraordinary. The book includes a perceptive preface on the nature of fear and bravery from Colonel John Blashford-Snell.
Available in £24.95 hardback or £9.95 paperback
The Assault on Mount Everest,1922
'The Assault on Mount Everest,1992' tells the story of the 1922 British Mount Everest expedition; the first mountaineering expedition with the express aim of making a successful ascent of Mount Everest. The expedition was planned and financed by the Mount Everest Committee which appointed the ebullient Brigadier General C.G. Bruce to be its leader; who subsequently wrote this compelling account of the expedition.
The book also provides us with riveting first-hand accounts of the three attempts on the mountain written by George Leigh-Mallory and Captain George Finch. Marked by tragedy when 7 Nepalese porters were swept to their death in an avalanche, it was also the first expedition that attempted to climb Everest using bottled oxygen, starting a controversy that endures to this day.
This new Daredevil Books edition of 'The Assault on Mount Everest,1922' is published to celebrate the centenary of the first attempt to conquer Everest.
With over 40 photographs and illustrations, it features a specially commissioned foreword by Britain's greatest living mountaineer, Sir Chris Bonington, who knows at first hand the challenges and tragedy of this most unforgiving mountain.
Available in £24.95 hardback or £9.95 paperback
'The Great White South' is the incredible account of Captain Scott's Terra Nova expedition to Antarctica written by the great photographer Herbert Ponting. Illustrated with over 60 of Ponting's photographs of the expedition, his skilful narrative brilliantly portrays the challenges and scope of this brave, if ultimately, ill-fated expedition.
With a new foreword by adventurer and explorer, Sir David Hempleman-Adams KCVO, OBE, KStJ, DL, FRSGS
Available in £24.95 hardback or £9.95 paperback
He'The Great White South'
The Biography of Amy Johnson Constance Babington Smith
The new Daredevil Books biography of Amy Johnson by Constance Babington Smith is regarded as the definitive account of her fascinating life. Written at the request of her family after her death in 1941 who granted access to her personal papers and letters, it provides unique insight into the life of this most recognisable of Britain's early air heroines. The book eloquently portrays the drama of her courageous flights as well as the challenges of Amy's troubled personal life. It is 80 years since Amy Johnson disappeared off the Kent coast in mysterious circumstances and a special afterword section brings the story of the search for wreckage of her crash up to date.
Our new hardback edition features forty photographs that richly illustrate Amy's life and includes a special foreword by modern pioneering aviator, Tracey Curtis-Taylor, who was inspired by Amy Johnson, and is finishing work on a film of her own intrepid exploits, Bird.
Amy Johnson was herself no stranger to appearing on film as this short news clip released at the time of her death demonstrates:
Available in £24.95 hardback or £9.95 paperback
We wanted our hardback edition to be of a high quality so it has been printed for us by Blissetts in London. They hold a Royal Warrant as Bookbinder to Her Majesty the Queen and have been in business for just over 100 years. We have had the book bound in a tweed colour Colorado cloth cover. The text and photos are on a heavyweight uncoated paper with green endpapers, ribbon and headbands with a quality jacket wrap.
'Full Throttle'
'Full Throttle' is the first hand account of the racing exploits of Sir Henry 'Tim' Birkin Bt. one of the most famous of pre - War drivers. A survivor of The Great War his 'devil may care' attitude made him the most fearless and fast of the glamorous 'Bentley Boys'. We are delighted to be publishing a new edition of his racing memoir which features forty photographs from the time.
Sir Henry Birkin at the wheel of a sportscar with his silk scarf flying was the archetypal schoolboys’ hero of the inter-war years.Born into a wealthy family in Nottinghamshire in 1896, he had an exciting WWI as an RFC pilot, and then took up motor racing to feed his desire for adrenaline. As one of the glamorous Bentley Boys he added prestige and success to the marque’s record, and with Woolf Barnato won the ’29 Le Mans in the new Speed Six.
'Full Throttle' is the first hand account of the racing exploits of Sir Henry 'Tim' Birkin Bt. one of the most famous of pre - War drivers. A survivor of The Great War his 'devil may care' attitude made him the most fearless and fast of the glamorous 'Bentley Boys'. We are delighted to be publishing a new edition of his racing memoir which features forty photographs from the time.
Sir Henry Birkin at the wheel of a sportscar with his silk scarf flying was the archetypal schoolboys’ hero of the inter-war years.Born into a wealthy family in Nottinghamshire in 1896, he had an exciting WWI as an RFC pilot, and then took up motor racing to feed his desire for adrenaline. As one of the glamorous Bentley Boys he added prestige and success to the marque’s record, and with Woolf Barnato won the ’29 Le Mans in the new Speed Six.
About 'The Last Enemy'
"One of the greatest ever classics of air warfare. This is a stunning book, an exhilarating, raw, shocking, and profoundly moving as when published during the war."
James Holland, Author, Historian and Presenter
"One of the classic books of World War Two"
Philip French, London Review of Books
The Last Enemy is an enthralling first hand account of the experiences of Spitfire pilot Richard Hillary. At Oxford University he was a successful oarsman and joined the Oxford University Air Squadron and the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in 1939.
Stationed just twelve miles east of London, Hillary, like the other “Brylcreem” boys of the RAF, heroically fought against almost insuperable odds in the air during the Battle of Britain, never knowing whether the next 'scramble' would be the last.
When Hillary's plane is hit over the Channel he is horribly burned and his account of his agonising, heroic recuperation as one of plastic surgeon’s Archie McIndoe’s ‘Guinea Pig’ Club members is both moving and shocking.
Hillary survived to fly again, one last time on 8th January 1943, on a complex and hazardous night training mission in a Bristol Blenheim V. His injuries severely impaired his ability to pilot the plane and he never returned as the plane crashed into Berwickshire farmland.
This new edition features a number of photographs brought together for the first time and is published to mark the 80th anniversary of The Battle of Britain. It also features a new introduction by James Alexander Douglas-Hamilton, Baron Selkirk of Douglas, whose uncle knew Hillary well and was himself a distinguished pilot who lost his life in the war.
Available in £24.95 hardback or £9.95 paperback
Listen to Richard Hillary
In a rare recording made in 1940, Richard Hillary describes in clipped tones his first day in action as he climbs into his Spitfire and rapidly climbs to 18,000 feet as one of 8 planes meeting 20 incoming ME 109's above them. Click on the link to listen.
"Who Dares Wins"
