One week til the 150th anniversary of the famous Battle of Lissa, and a chance to win a signed copy of the book about the ship’s surgeon who was there. Countdown Day 7.

After a whirl of uniform fittings, goodbyes and letters home, Dr Ephraim M Epstein was commissioned ship’s surgeon on board the Feuerspeier Battery, off Venice. No sooner had he gained his sea legs than he was transferred to the corvette Seehund. What different circumstances to his voyage across the Atlantic in the bowels of a leaky merchant ship; Ephraim savoured the taut sails, the wind, summer’s clear Mediterranean skies and the grand sight of the ships of the line as they patrolled the coast off Venice. But suddenly now they were sailing and steaming southeast to join the fleet directly under the command of Admiral Tegetthoff himself. The Italian navy had commenced besieging the island of Lissa, defence outpost of Austria’s key naval base on the Dalmatian coast.

For a chance to win a copy of The Extraordinary Dr Epstein, answer the quiz question on Wednesday 20 July 2016.

Excerpt from Chapter 20, Battle. Ephraim’s epic poem about the battle won him an award from Emperor Franz Joseph. Author great granddaughter still seeks that poem! Go HERE for a non-fiction page on the famous Battle of Lissa, why it was fought what else it is famous for and what happened next.