The Unwritten Alliance

London: Cassell & Company Ltd., 1961. First edition, only printing. Hardcover. This is a jacketed copy of the fifth and final volume of Churchill's postwar speech volumes. There was no U.S. edition for this volume and the British first edition was limited to a single printing of 5,000 copies. Moreover, dust jackets for The Unwritten Alliance were notoriously poorly printed, and consequently are almost always rubbed or streaked, with orange showing through the black background.

This copy is near fine in a near fine dust jacket, elusive thus. The orange-red cloth binding is square, tight, entirely unfaded, and immaculately clean with sharp corners and bright spine gilt. The contents are clean and bright with no previous ownership marks. We would grade this copy as truly fine if not for spotting, which appears confined to the text block edges. The dust jacket is vividly bright and entirely complete, with no loss and retaining the original front flap price. Moreover, it is substantially free of the orange streaking endemic to this edition, with just a little orange showing along the rear joint and front face. Shelf presentation is excellent. The white rear cover shows mild soiling and scattered spotting. The dust jacket is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover.

The Unwritten Alliance includes 70 speeches delivered by Churchill between 30 January 1953 and 31 October 1959. These speeches span the end of Churchill's second and final term as Prime Minister (1951-1955) and the twilight of his long life and public career. The period coincides with Churchill’s 1953 receipt of the Nobel Prize in Literature, in part “…for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values.” The bulk of the speeches in The Unwritten Alliance - 43 of 70 and 250 of 332 pages - take place during Churchill's premiership. In this final volume of his speeches published during his lifetime, Churchill passes "into a living national memorial" of the time he has lived and the Nation, Empire, and free world he has served.

The Unwritten Alliance takes its name specifically from Churchill's 8 June 1954 speech and more generally from the "special relationship" between Britain and the United States, which had endured postwar disagreements. The editor, Winston’s son Randolph, wrote in his introduction to the volume that the title was "justified by the number of speeches which dwell on the paramount necessity of Anglo-American friendship."

Reference: Cohen A273, Woods/ICS A142, Langworth p.338.