Skip to content

The Second World War, Chartwell Edition by Winston S. Churchill - 1955

by Winston S. Churchill

Similar copies are shown below.
Similar copies are shown to the right.
The Second World War, Chartwell Edition by Winston S. Churchill - 1955

The Second World War, Chartwell Edition

by Winston S. Churchill

  • Used
  • Hardcover

London: Educational Book Company, 1955. Illustrated Edition. Hardcover. This is a full, six-volume set of the first illustrated edition of The Second World War. The first illustrated Chartwell edition of The Second World War was published soon after the British first edition and is aesthetically superior in every respect. It is also the final text, "in which all those first minor errors are corrected", according to the author. This particular edition is not only collectible, but also stands the test of time as among the most aesthetically pleasing and the most pleasant to actually read.

The standard binding for this issue was a bright red embossed calico-grain cloth stamped in gilt with brown leather spine labels and another rectangular brown leather label on the front cover bearing a blind-stamped profile of Churchill. The books have an agreeable weight and size, measuring roughly 9.75 x 6.75 inches (24.8 x 17.1 cm). The boards are stout and the spines have extensively gilt and blind ruled panels. The contents feature dark red endpapers, head and foot bands, and red stained top edges. The text is entirely reset from the first edition and features hundreds of illustrations. Each volume also contains a color frontispiece and three-color maps.

The very attractiveness of the sets invited handling, and the course red cloth is often scuffed, faded, and soiled, with the leather labels chipped. This set is in good plus condition, sound, complete, clean within, and eminently readable, though certainly showing some exterior age and wear. The red cloth bindings remain square, tight, and clean, with only minor blemishes and light shelf wear to extremities. Nonetheless, there is some toning to the spines and to the upper edges of the boards of several volumes. All of the leather spine labels are intact, though there is edge wear to a few and a minor scuff to the center of one of the Volume I spine labels. The contents are quite clean. We find no previous ownership marks and the only trace of spotting appears confined to the Volume II page edges. The red topstain varies across the set from sunned, pale red to darker red.

The Second World War is Churchill's history of the epic 20th Century struggle that was so indelibly stamped by his leadership. Seldom, if ever, has history endowed a statesman with both singular ability to make history, and singular ability to write it. As with so much of what Churchill wrote, The Second World War is not "history" in the strictly academic, objectivist sense, but rather Churchill's perspective on history. In his March 1948 introduction to the first volume, Churchill himself made the disclaimer, "I do not describe it as history... it is a contribution to history..." Nonetheless the compelling fact remains, as stated by Churchill himself, "I am perhaps the only man who has passed through both the two supreme cataclysms of recorded history in high Cabinet office... I was for more than five years in this second struggle with Germany the Head of His Majesty's government. I write, therefore, from a different standpoint and with more authority than was possible in my earlier books."

Certainly The Second World War may be regarded as an intensely personal and inherently biased history. Nonetheless, Churchill's work remains essential, iconic, and a vital part of the historical record. Richard Langworth calls the six-volume epic "indispensable reading for anyone who seeks a true understanding of the war that made us what we are today." This first illustrated edition was published in the year that Churchill finally and irrevocably relinquished the reins of power, resigning his second and final premiership and passing "into a living national memorial" of the time he lived and the Nation, Empire, and free world he served.

Please anticipate that this large, heavy set will be shipped at cost.

Reference: Cohen A240.7.b, Woods/ICS A123(d) Langworth p.269.

  • Bookseller Churchill Book Collector US (US)
  • Format/Binding Hardcover
  • Book Condition Used
  • Quantity Available 1
  • Edition Illustrated Edition
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Publisher Educational Book Company
  • Place of Publication London
  • Date Published 1955

We have 11 copies available starting at £97.94.

No image available

The Second World War - Chartwell Edition (6 Vol Set)

by CHURCHILL, WINSTON S & SHIRER, WILLIAM L (Fore)

  • Used
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used
Binding
Hardcover
Quantity Available
1
Seller
DUNEDIN, Auckland, New Zealand
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
£97.94

Show Details

Description:
Houghton Mifflin 1983. 6 VOL SET, super octavo, beige buckram boards with sm illus plates on front, gilt lettering to blue & brown faux leather spines, top page edges stained yellow, illus eps, frontispieces, various pagination, VG+ (light bruising to extrems, light tanning & soiling to page edges, occasional sl soiling to boards)
Item Price
£97.94
The Second World War (Chartwell Edition, 6 Volume Set)
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Second World War (Chartwell Edition, 6 Volume Set)

by Winston S. Churchill

  • Used
  • Very Good
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used - Very Good
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780395349298 / 039534929X
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Lithia , Florida, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
£130.48

Show Details

Description:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1983. hardcover. Very Good. 8x0x10. Complete set--hardback--6 vol--excellent condition--no dust covers
Item Price
£130.48
No image available

The Second World War - Six Volumes (Chartwell Edition)

by Churchill, Winston S

  • Used
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used - Good Minus
Binding
Hardcover
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Carlisle, Cumbria, United Kingdom
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 2 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
£120.00

Show Details

Description:
London: The Educational Book Company Ltd, 1951. 6 vols: The gathering storm; their finest hour; the grand alliance; the hinge of fate; closing the ring; triumph and tragedy. Preface & Note to the "Chartwell" edition pages dated 1948/1954; 1949; 1950; 1951; 1951; 1953, respectively. Red spines sunned and rubbed with rubbing and chipping to brown leather title labels, with some loss to label edges. Boards rubbed with occasional staining. Hinges cracked. Some foxing, mainly to prelims, owner name to ffep, vol 5 has some dampstaining and wrinkling to edges of prelims and first pages, otherwise content clean and bright.. Cloth. Good Minus. 4to.
Item Price
£120.00
The Second World War (Chartwell Edition, 6 Volume Set)
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Second World War (Chartwell Edition, 6 Volume Set)

by Winston S. Churchill; William L. Shirer [Foreword]

  • Used
  • Very Good
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used - Very Good
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780395349298 / 039534929X
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Asheville, North Carolina, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
£173.79

Show Details

Description:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1983. hardcover. Very Good. 13x12x7. No marks noted in texts, complete 6 volume set of hcs, NO INTERNATIONAL OR EXPEDITED SHIPPING,AND AS ALWAYS SHIPPED IN 24 HOURS; and emailed to you a USPS tracking number on all orders; all books are sanitized and cleaned for your protection before mailing
Item Price
£173.79
The Second World War (Chartwell Edition, 6 Volume Set)
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Second World War (Chartwell Edition, 6 Volume Set)

by Winston S. Churchill

  • Used
Condition
Used - Collectible - Acceptable
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780395349298 / 039534929x
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Frederick, Maryland, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
£198.88

Show Details

Description:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Collectible - Acceptable. Collectible - Acceptable. Book Very Good. No dust jacket. Chartwell 6 volume set. (WWII, world war 2, military history) NOT AVAILABLE FOR SHIPMENT OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES.
Item Price
£198.88
No image available

THE SECOND WORLD WAR -Second Chartwell Edition-

by Winston S. Churchill

  • Used
  • Very Good
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used - Very Good
Edition
Second Chartwell Edition (Book-of-the-Month Club Binding) (Cohen
Binding
Hardcover
Quantity Available
6
Seller
New York, New York, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
£278.46

Show Details

Description:
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1983. Second Chartwell Edition (Book-of-the-Month Club Binding) (Cohen A240.22(Woods A123oa). Hardcover. Very Good. 8vo (Maps, diagrams and tables throughout.). As-new set of this sumptuous 1983 reissue, bound in quarter-blue leather with map-imprinted endpapers and a color reproduction of one of Churchill’s Chartwell paintings tipped onto the front cover of each volume. Without dust jackets, as issued. The text is taken from Churchill’s definitive rewrite for the First Chartwell edition of 1955, the individual book size is roughly ten percent larger than the original edition. This set was published simultaneously by Houghton Mifflin and the Book-of-the-Month Club (just as the original First American edition had been). The two versions are virtually identical, distinguishable solely by their topstains: rust-colored for Houghton Mifflin’s Trade Edition; yellow for the Book-of-the-Month Club, as here. In virtually mint condition.
Item Price
£278.46
The Second World War Six Volume Set: Their Finest Hour; The Gathering Storm; The Hinge of Fate;...
More Photos

The Second World War Six Volume Set: Their Finest Hour; The Gathering Storm; The Hinge of Fate; The Grand Alliance; Closing the Ring; Triumph and Tragedy (Chartwell Edition)

by Churchill, Winston S. [Spencer]; Shirer, William L

  • Used
  • Fine
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used - Fine
Jacket Condition
No Jacket
Edition
Reissue
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780395349298 / 039534929X
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Webster, New York, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
£278.46

Show Details

Description:
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1983. Reissue. Hard Cover. Fine/No Jacket. 13x12x7. Bindings tight and square, pages clean, bright, and unmarked. An exceptional set. 1983 Hard Cover. Complete in six hardcover volumes. 9 1/4 x 6 1/2. 8vo. Chartwell Edition. Blue leatherette spines with gilt titles and rules and red panels, over beige cloth, with color picture plate of Churchill's Chartwell home on front board of each volume. This edition adds a foreword by William L. Shirer not found in other editions. "Churchill's six-volume history of World War II -- the definitive work, remarkable both for its sweep and for its sense of personal involvement, universally acknowledged as a magnificent historical reconstruction and an enduring work of literature. From Britain's darkest and finest hour to the great alliance and ultimate victory, the Second World War remains the pivotal event in our century. Churchill was not only its greatest leader, but the free world's most eloquent voice of… Read More
Item Price
£278.46
No image available

Publisher's sample for the Chartwell Edition of The Second World War.

by CHURCHILL, Winston S

  • Used
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used
Binding
Hardcover
Quantity Available
1
Seller
LONDON, United Kingdom
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
£275.00

Show Details

Description:
The Educational Book Company, London., [1954]. Only edition. Royal octavo. A selection of text pages, maps and illustrations from the first volume of the Chartwell Edition of Churchill's The Second World War. Bound in at the front and rear are samples of the front cover and spine panels of the issues in blue morocco and red buckram. Original full black leather with the word ''SPECIMEN'' in gilt on front. These samples were used by the sales reps to give bookshop managers and other potential customers a foretaste of forthcoming publications.Fine. Scarce.
Item Price
£275.00
The Second World War (The Chartwell Edition)

The Second World War (The Chartwell Edition)

by Churchill, Winston S

  • Used
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used
Binding
Hardcover
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Surprise, Arizona, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
£596.70

Show Details

Description:
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1983. octavo, 6 volumes; quarter blue leather over tan cloth covered boards, color pictorial label on front panel. FIRST EDITION THUS (first Chartwell Edition). Top edges stained reddish. A lovely, fine unread set, internally clean and bright, with no markings of any kind.
Item Price
£596.70
The Second World War - 6 volumes with Specimen - Chartwell Edition
More Photos

The Second World War - 6 volumes with Specimen - Chartwell Edition

by CHURCHILL Winston S

  • Used
  • Very Good
  • first
Condition
Used - Very Good
Edition
First Illustrated Edition
Quantity Available
1
Seller
London, Greater London, United Kingdom
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
£600.00

Show Details

Description:
London: Educational Company Ltd [1954]. Large 8vo.De Luxe Edition. 6 Volumes with addtional specimen volume. Bound in blue quarter morroco with bevelled, cloth boards. De Luxe edition of the first illustrated edition. Boards have sunned to a pleasant blue brown and minor marks to the boards. Clean and bright internally with onwer's name in ink to the endpapers of volume 1. Slight wear to the the interior hinge of vol. 4 and split to the spine of vol. 3 other wise a firm binding. This edition was published once Churchill had finished writing the set (1948 to 1954), and incorporates his final textual revisions, as well as illustrations. Illustrated throughout with photographs, hold out maps and prints. The set includes a specimen volume which is cloth bound and marked, with examples of the two first edition binding option bound inside. . Very Good. 1/4 Morocco. First Illustrated Edition. 1954.
Item Price
£600.00