Westering

J.M. Dent & Sons. London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd, 1939  8vo., burgundy publisher's cloth ruled and lettered in gilt to spine, with publisher's name in blind to foot; upper edge stained; in the publisher's printed dust jacket (10s. 6d. net); pp. [vi], vii-viii,[ii], 3-356; with a black and white frontis photograph of Kenney facing title; seven additional photographs spaced sporadically throughout the text; spine ever-so-slightly faded, touched more by sun at tips; endpapers very lightly offset; otherwise a lovely example in the very good dust jacket which is lightly sunned along the backstrip and some chips and closed tears, particularly to head of spine.  First edition. With two pieces of related ephemeral articles loosely inserted.  The autobiography of an Yorkshire-born Intelligence officer during the Second World War. Rowland Kenney (1882-1961) was a British diplomat, author and editor who served in both world wars as a director of propaganda in both Norway and Scandinavia as a whole. During his time in Oslo in 1916 he supplied the media with British propaganda, and was instrumental in eliminating German influence from the Norwegian Telegram Bureau. After the war he traveled to Poland, and from thence to Versailles, where he reported to the British delegation regarding the peace treaty. Upon his return, he suffered an airplane crash with serious injury, but survived and during the inter-war years continued to work for the Foreign office. It was during this time that he wrote his autobiography Westering - a title which is never explained. During World War II he returned to Norway, but was forced to flee due to the German invasion in 1940. He was largely forgotten by history until a collection of papers emerged giving a greater degree of insight into his work, and in particular his contribution to the thousands of pro-British articles which appeared in the Norwegian press during the early years of WWI.  A scarce title.  . Near Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 1939.