Pages 626-640

This page-by-page annotation is organized by sections, as delineated by the seven squares (sprockets) which separate each section. The page numbers for this page-by-page annotation are for the original Viking edition (760 pages). Editions by other publishers vary in pagination — the newer Penguin editions are 776 pages; the Bantam edition is 886 pages.

Contributors: Please use a 760-page edition (either the original Viking edition with the orange cover or the Penguin USA edition with the blue cover and rocket diagram — there are plenty on Ebay for around $10) or search the Google edition for the correct page number. Readers: To calculate the Bantam edition use this formula: Bantam page # x 1.165. Before p.50 it's about a page earlier; as you get later in the book, add a page.

Finally, profound thanks to Prof. Don Larsson for providing the foundation for this page-by-page annotation.

Page 637

Chase scene from Saboteur

Site of the final chase scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Saboteur (1942).

637.11 Douglas Fairbanks scampering across that moon minaret
Refers to the 1924 film The Thief of Baghdad in which swashbuckling Douglas Fairbanks plays a thief who falls in love with the Caliph's beautiful daughter.

637.37-38 Dick Whittington
According to popular legend, Whittington (c. 1350-1423) was one of the preterite who made good, a penniless boy who was about to leave London when he heard the city’s bells calling, "Turn back, Dick Whittington, Lord Mayor of London!" Wikipedia entry