Fire Down Below

With an introduction by Victoria Glendinning The third volume of William Golding's Sea Trilogy. A decrepit warship sails on the last stretch of its voyage to Sydney Cove. It has been blown off course and battered by wind, storm and ice. Little but rope holds the disintegrating hull together. And after a risky operation to reset its foremast, an unseen fire begins to smoulder below decks. "A tour de force...A historical novel that defies all the hazards of that form and becomes a persuasive adventure, love story and allegory, as serious as it is entertaining". (Penelope Lively, Daily Telegraph). "The best novel I've read this year...The language fizzes and spits". (DM Thomas, Daily Telegraph). "Life on the Australia-bound sailing ship reeks and resounds with authenticity ...the epic imaginative enterprise concluded with Fire Down Below is as formidable a feat as the year-long odyssey it charts". (Peter Kemp, Sunday Times).