+ Hardback book with dustjacket.
+ 416 pages.
+ 130 photographs and images, many never before published.
+ Thoroughly researched with 1000 end note references.
+ Foreword by Titanic author Gary Cooper.
+ Edited and printed by Amberley Publishing who also released the legendary reference work On a Sea of Glass: The Life & Loss of the RMS Titanic.
+ Individually numbered, limited edition direct from the author.
+ Individually signed by the author.
+ Includes a unique, custom-made colour bookmark.
+ Personalised inscription can be requested at the time of purchase.
+ Dispatched by Royal Mail (tracked in the UK).
Postage and handling costs (via Royal Mail):
UK [Tracked]: £6
Europe [Tracked]: £13
Canada & USA [Tracked]: £20
Australia & New Zealand [Tracked]: £22
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On 3 July 1930, a maid discovered the dead body of her employer on the floor of the sitting room in an upmarket apartment in Temple, London. The victim was 37-year-old Sidney Russell Cooke, mysteriously shot through the stomach by a hunting rifle. He was the husband of Titanic Captain Edward Smith’s only daughter, Helen, known to friends as ‘Mel’. Unknown to many, he was also an MI5 spy, described as a ‘prototype James Bond’ - and the esteemed Cambridge economist John Maynard Keynes’ lover.
Never before published private letters and family photographs tell the true, untold story of a legendary captain, the mysterious death of a British spy and an inspirational daughter who stepped out of the shadow of misfortune to carve her own path. By the time Mel was 49 she had lost her father, mother, husband, son, and daughter, all in unusual circumstances. Yet she would become a pilot, a driver of fast cars, an artist’s muse and collector of fine art, living within a coterie of suffragettes, politicians, Russian spies, yachtsmen, gay lovers and the fabulously wealthy.
Sample pages 48 and 49.
Includes reprints of documents from the author's private collection, such as this rare and original April 1912 French newspaper featuring Captain Smith.
"Intensive, extensive research, significant use of often obscure archival records, and finding or collating many ‘new’ photographs are the ingredients of this illuminating volume. Superbly written...
highly recommended."
- Charles A. Haas, co-author, Titanic: Triumph and Tragedy and President, Titanic International Society
"Dan Parkes has a clear-eyed, meticulous approach to sifting through the evidence and weaving together the story of father and daughter…Combined with new and previously unpublished research, the result is a work that stands out in a crowded field of Titanic titles
with refreshing clarity."
- Inger Sheil, Titanic historian and author of Titanic Valour: The Life of Fifth Officer Harold Lowe
"The book is a must-read for Titanic enthusiasts... an adventure from start to finish. It is fascinating and I could not put it down."
- Tim Maltin, Titanic author, historian and presenter
"If you add to his engrossing biographical research the wealth of images that Dan has collected together – many of them not previously published – then you have a family album for this Smith family history
that is very impressive."
-Gary Cooper, author of Titanic Captain: The Life of Edward John Smith
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