An Absence of Imagination: A Tale of the China coast

by Richard Woodman

"It is with the accurate capturing of detail and the sensitive recalling of a long-gone way of life that Woodman enhances and enriches his sea-tales." Captain Joshua Garner. Captain John Sanford is the Master of the British steamship Da Feng of Hong Kong, plying her trade in the mid-1950s on the China coast. It is a difficult and dangerous time for British seafarers, with a recently victorious Communist regime consolidating its hold on the vast country. Born in Shanghai with a deep interest in China, the young Sanford is a highly respected shipmaster. He and his ship have become something of an institution on the coast, where Sanford warily treads the ill-defined line between politics and commerce until one day, in a port in northern China, he is ordered by a sinister Colonel in the People’s Liberation Army to embark a passenger. The person consigned to his care is ‘An Enemy of the People,’ and in the few days that follow, Captain Sanford’s carefully regulated world collapses round him as he finds his own life is threatened and he is subject to appalling consequences. In an ironic twist, Sanford's fate is to be forced to confront a reality that turned on ill luck and an absence of imagination. Captain Richard Martin Woodman LVO is an English novelist and naval historian. He is the author of the series ‘A History of the British Merchant Navy’ and the Sword of State trilogy, which recreates the true story of George Monck. Praise for Richard ‘A powerful, compelling yarn in the tradition of Joseph Conrad.’ Matthew Willis ‘In The Judgment of his Peers , Richard Woodman once again combines the seductive style and absolute authenticity of Joseph Conrad's Marlow narratives like The Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim with the powerful story-telling of Alaistair MacLean's HMS Ulysses and Nicholas Monsarrat's The Cruel Sea .’ Peter Tonkin 'This series could develop into something very special. Richard Woodman knows how to tell a story, but has a healthy respect for history... Compulsive reading.' Saul David 'Brings medieval Europe to life. The well-crafted action and historical insights enthral and entertain.' Richard Foreman, author of Band of Brothers ‘If Neptune’s Trident sets the standard for what is to follow - we can at least rest assured that there is a series that truly does justice to our proud merchant maritime past.’ Nautilus UK Telegraph ‘Richard Woodman tells many a good tale in this first volume and it is fascinating to read. If the rest of the series is as good as this one, they should all be on the bookshelves of those studying the history of Britain, from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries.’ Open History

146 pages, Paperback

Published January 16, 2021

About the author

Captain Richard Martin Woodman was an English novelist and naval historian who retired in 1997 from a 37-year nautical career, mainly working for Trinity House, to write full-time.

Reviews

[Arthur Estes]

Entriging story

This is an intriguing story of life along the China coast after the takeover by Mao and the communist. It also brings out the fact that many British citizens who were sailors loved the area and devoted their lives to it.

[howard collins]

fascinating story

A very good story giving incites to conditions in China at that time highlighted the paranoid of the communist regime.