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| Cover design by Stella Stofberg |
Robin
Boyd’s story is somewhat different to my own, yet it tells of a life as full of
adventure in as many parts of the globe as mine. His nose for the fray led him
from skirmishes in Greece and Albania and action in the Arab-Israeli post-war
conflict in Palestine to smuggling drink in the Channel Islands, from
accidentally skiing the Olympic Ski Run to hunting rogue lions in East Africa.
There was more to come . . .
The book is a
rollicking tale told by a deceptively modest man, which kept me turning the pages
trying to find a place to put it down so I could draw breath and prepare for
the next rollercoaster ride. It’s a great read for anyone who prefers to sit in
a comfortable armchair with a cup of tea, and let other ‘mad, bad and
dangerous-to-know’ people have the adventures.
Ranulph Fiennes
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
The extraordinary life of Robin Boyd began in Britain
in 1927. Born into an ancient, aristocratic family teeming with adventurers,
his audacious tales are of derring-do and courage, with tongue so firmly in
cheek we laugh out loud. As a youth during World War II, he attempted to escape
from Eton to join the merchant navy; later was trained as a tank commander in
the army and commissioned into 17/21st Lancers.
He describes hair-raising skirmishes in foreign lands,
meetings with characters from other worlds and living to the hilt. Then, ever
irreverent, he encountered challenges and triumphs in Africa, during which time
he wooed and won Lavinia and begat sons. From their farm in Kenya, via teaching
royalty to waterski in Corfu, he settled his family in Ireland and there began
his exploits aboard his ‘other woman’, his 35-foot yacht named Ballerina of
Skellig. In her, he sailed the seven seas, eventually retiring to South Africa
where he enjoyed many expeditions up into remote areas in the Cederberg
mountains near Cape Town.
ORDER
FROM:
Carol
van Hoogstraten
Email: carolvh@hermanus.co.za
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