Spence Miles (5 results)

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. Very good clean copy. War and Pieces is an autobiographical third-person account of one man's experiences in the Navy during the Second World War. John Pilgrim enlists for the Navy because "If the world was about to end he wanted to go out with his guns blazing". His training, first at Devonport naval base, later near Wellington, is interspersed with stories of mateship, chasing "sheilas", getting drunk for the first time, discovering jazz, sketching, and generally grabbing fun where he can, because in wartime, who knows if it will be the last time. Pilgrim is posted to New Georgia in the Pacific via New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands. There he comes under attack from the Japanese and mosquitos, meets jazz-savvy American servicemen and becomes known among them for his sketching. After contracting malaria and being sent on recovery leave back to New Zealand, Pilgrim buys a clarinet and teaches himself to play. Shipped off again to Sydney and then New Guinea, he is seconded to the British Pacific Fleet, supplying back-up for the American Fifth Fleet who are battling it out at Okinawa. On the surrender of Japan, Pilgrim returns to New Zealand via Sydney, where he manages to have his war sketches exhibit.

Soft cover. Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. A very clean copy which appears unread. Twenty-eight places in the South Island of New Zealand described in verse with a pencil sketch of the area accompanying each poem. Two former professional musicians, 'G-string' Gordon Clemow and 'Reedy' Miles Spence completed a two month camping tour of the South Island in the summer of 1990. They erected their tent near lakes, rivers and beaches. When they weren't living off the land and burning their tucker on the gas cooker, they played evergreen jazz in many venues for their victuals and refreshments. Here their journey has been described by writing poems, short stories and by completing more than 60 sketches of locations throughout the South Island.

Softcover. Condition: Very Good with no dust jacket. Square, tight binding. Clean and bright pages. Wrappers have light overall handling wear, including crease at lower corner on front. Contents: Kowaleski, Medieval people in town and country: new perspectives from demography and bioarchaeology. Lower, The papacy and Christian mercenaries of thirteenth-century North Africa. Miles, The origins and development of the Virgin Mary's book at the annunciation. Paden, An Occitan prayer against the plague and its tradition in Italy, France, and Catalonia. Kennedy, Reintroducing the English books of hours, or "English Primers." Reviews. ; 10.0" tall; 321 pages.

Super octavo softcover(VG+): all our specials have minimal description to keep listing them viable. They are at least reading copies, complete and in reasonable condition, but usually secondhand; frequently they are superior examples. Ordering more than one book may reduce your overall postage costs.

Soft cover. Condition: Near Fine. First Edition. Scarce title. Pictorial card covers, b&w illstns. SIGNED BY MILES SPENCE ON THE HALF-TITLE PAGE. Very tidy. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Signed by Author(s).