Dover Harbour

by Thomas Armstrong, Unknown Author

“Dover Harbour” is the story of England from 1789 to 1809, from the outbreak of the French Revolution through the years when bereft of one ally after another, she faced the despot Napoleon alone; until in the beginning of 1809 there comes the first gleam of that success which is to carry in triumph the British flag from the Tagus to the Garonne, and which is the prelude to the release of the subjugated peoples of Europe. The action of the novel centres round two men, a shipowner and a banker, as to whether Dover should decay into a commercial backwater or grow into a great port, the Key to the Kingdom.

Mr. Armstrong has not only put together an entrancing story, but with his knowledge and feeling for the sea and ships, has produced that atmosphere of utter reality which also saturated his tale of the wool trade in Yorkshire, “The Crowthers of Bankdam.”

Hardcover

About the author

Born in 1899 in Leeds to parents from mill-owning families, Thomas Armstrong attended Queen Elizabeth School, Wakefield; then studied at the Royal Naval College, Keyham, followed by service in the Royal Navy during the First World War. Finding the spit and polish of peace-time Navy life irksome, he entered the wool trade but was soon off on a roving tour of the world that lasted several years. He married in 1930 and then began writing novels, achieving success with the immediately popular The Crowthers of Bankdam, first published in 1940, which at once established him as one of Britain's leading contemporary novelists. He lived in Yorkshire, initially in the West Riding and then in Swaledale for 30 years. Throughout his life he avoided personal publicity.

Thomas Armstrong died in 1978.

Reviews

[Michael Newman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overlong novel but wonderful evocation of the town of Dover, it’s streets, buildings and communities. Also it does put events into context of national and international politics and economics. Some very exciting plots and events… if only it was shorter.