Worms and Fishes. "Lifeboats for Victoria: The Story of Lifeboats and Their Crews in Victoria 1856-1979", by Marten A. Syme. [review]

Abstract

It is the story of these boats and their communities that we have here, told for the first time by Marten Syme in his crisp, impeccably researched, beautifully illustrated and produced little book. For a short book that could have happily been much longer, Syme has done a splendid job, subtly evoking the political and psychological realities. He calculates that between 1857 and 1940 the lifeboat service in Victoria carried 440 people to safety at a cost of thirty-eight pounds per life.