The Unknown War: The Eastern Front 1914-1917

London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., 1941. Hardcover. This collectible Second World War reprint is the scarce Macmillan issue of the sixth and final book of Churchill's acclaimed history of the First World War. This copy is in good plus condition. The smooth blue cloth binding remains bright with no dulling of the color and bright gilt. We note some small stains to the front cover, modest wear to extremities, and a little wrinkling of the binding cloth at the left hinge. The contents show only mild, intermittent spotting within and on the text block edges. All illustrations and maps are present and the folding maps at p. 98, 142, 156, 250, 256, 308, 324, 338, 346, and 368 are all properly folded with no tears. A single previous owner name and date is inked on the front free endpaper.

A quarter of a century before the Second World War endowed him with lasting fame, Winston Churchill played a uniquely critical, controversial, and varied role in the “War to end all wars”. Then, being Churchill, he wrote about it. Originally published in six volumes between 1923 and 1931, The World Crisis spans the 1911-1918 war years (the first four volumes). The fifth volume, The Aftermath, covered the postwar years 1918-1928. In originally proposing this sixth and final volume to his publisher, Churchill wrote: "In the previous volumes of the World Crisis I have described only in a few pages the course of events in the Eastern theatre. They have merely been the background of our main drama of the war. But now I think I might write a volume called 'The Eastern Front', which would be separate from but supplementary to our five volume history." It may have been prophetic, as the Eastern Front would prove critical to Churchill’s efforts as Britain’s leader during the Second World War.

The Unknown War was originally published by Thornton Butterworth (as The Eastern Front) in 1931, just as Churchill was beginning his “wilderness years” decade. Churchill spent nearly the entirety of the 1930s out of power and out of favor, frequently at odds with both his Government and prevailing public sentiment. But in 1940 Churchill became wartime Prime Minister. And also in 1940, Thornton Butterworth went under and a different publisher, Macmillan, acquired the rights to several of Churchill’s books.

This first and only Macmillan issue of The Unknown War was published in December 1941, the same month the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States finally formally entered the war. This is technically an “issue” and not an “edition” since it was printed from first edition plates. Hence this 1941 Macmillan’s size is the same as that of the 1931 first edition. Moreover, its navy cloth binding, while not the same, does echo that of the first printing. This edition is both collectible in its own right and may serve as a less expensive substitute for the Thornton Butterworth first edition when assembling a set.

Reference: Cohen A69.13, Woods/ICS A31(h), Langworth p.123.