The Captain - Jan De Hartog

Hardback book
World Books 1968 (Copyright 1966)

Ocean-going tugboats, a highly specialised field of nautical enterprise in which the Dutch have always taken the lead, were the subject of De Hartog's book, "Hollands Glorie" ("Holland's Glory", translated to English as "Captain Jan") - in which the highly skilled tugboat sailors were depicted (without saying it explicitly) as modern successors to the bold navigators of the Dutch Golden Age.

As it happened, the book was published in 1940, just ten days before Nazi Germany invaded and swiftly occupied the hitherto-neutral Netherlands.  Under these circumstances, a book with such a name and theme became an immediate best seller in occupied Holland, a potent symbol of Dutch opposition to the occupation.

Condition:
The book is in very good condition for its age.  The cover has vertical creases to the spine slight edge and corner wear, slight creasing to the spine ends and faint surface marks.  Inside, the book has slight creasing inside the cover, minor marks and wear and slight age browning.  The pages appear to be in reasonably tight and clean condition.