Marryat with helicopters?

David Hayes made a discovery that is too good not to share.  He came across a book cover of a reissue of Frederick Marryat‘s The Mission by Tutis Digital Publishing.   The cover shows a helicopter hovering low over the ocean about to pick up a commando in dive gear.  Exciting stuff.   Anyone not familiar with Marryat  who purchases the book, however, might be surprised to learn that it was written in 1845 and has no helicopters of any sort.    Captain Frederick Marryat was a Royal Navy captain and a prolific writer of nautical fiction.  He also wrote travel and children’s books.

With the advent of high speed scanners many book publishers are reissuing books long out of print and in the public domain, which is all well and good.  Nevertheless someone should read the books before handing them over to the art director to design the cover.  Tutis Digital Publishing also offers a large print version of Marryat’s The Mission.  The cover – a photograph of modern shrimp boats.  Don’t ask me why.

Anyone interested in naval fiction should definitely check out David Hayes’ Astrodene’s Historic Naval Fiction web site and forum.