Description

The hilarious bestselling travel book that journeys round areas made famous by Radio 4’s Shipping Forecast

‘One of those simple yet brilliant ideas’ Daily Mail

‘Engaging and often very funny’ Sunday Times

‘A wonderfully eccentric study’ Observer

The Shipping Forecast is a curious piece of broadcasting; at once impenetrably baffling yet at the same time reassuringly familiar, most of us have grown up with this sonorous gazetteer firmly planted in our subconscious. But where are these places, and what secrets do they conceal? Charlie Connelly sets off on a journey round the forecast to find out, unearthing the history and culture behind one of Britain’s best-loved broadcasting institutions.

More than simply a hilarious travel book, Attention All Shipping ensures that the evocative stanzas of the shipping forecast will remain a mystery no more.

A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK

Publisher Review

An engaging and often very funny book in which a metropolitan man, buffeted by winds and high seas, travels from Norway's smallest island to Europe's westernmost pointing search of the reality behind the reassuring Radio 4 recital * Sunday Times * A wonderfully eccentric study * Observer * One of those simple yet brilliant ideas... A book that's as gentle and pleasing as the shipping forecast itself * Daily Mail * If listening to 'Sailing By' to the bitter end every night is the surest sign of a Radio 4 addict, then buying Charlie Connelly's book runs it close * Independent on Sunday * Armchair travelling will never be the same again * Western Mail * He brings the shipping forecast to life, revealing the reality to be bizarre, quirky and fantastic * Guernsey Press * Charlie Connelly proves to be a suitably intelligent and amusing guide around these coastal stations and provides an illuminating history of the forecast itself * Hampstead and Highgate Express * Attention All Shipping went down a storm with this sea lover. It has great humour. It has great atmosphere... a very entertaining read and, believe me, you'll never see cod in the same way again * Sunday Tribune * Connelly has a light, humorous touch * Glasgow Evening Times * A fascinating and very funny book * Weekly News * A comic tribute to a radio bulletin ... also a quirky history of the outposts of northern Europe * Irish Times * More than a travelogue ... anecdotes delight in the diversity of the remote communities, while biographies of unsung heroes of British maritime history emphasise that the forecast has been crucial in saving lives * Waterstones Books Quarterly * A real gem * Bookseller *