Winston S. Churchill, The Official Biography, Companion Volume V, Part 3, The Coming of War 1936 - 1939

London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1982. First edition. Hardcover. This is the British first edition of Companion Volume V, Part 3 of the Official Biography of Sir Winston Churchill. The Official Biography of Winston Churchill, initiated by Randolph Churchill but completed by Martin Gilbert, is an epic piece of scholarship about a singularly epic life, comprising eight mammoth main text volumes and - so far - seventeen accompanying document or "Companion" volumes. The eight main text volumes were originally published between 1966 and 1988. Publication of the Companion volumes was compelted in 2019.

This is the rarest, most keenly sought, and most prohibitive to acquire of the Official Biography Companion volumes. The British first edition saw just a single printing in England and the Volume V Companions were published in smaller quantities than other Companion volumes - meaning that many British first edition Official Biography sets will forever do without. The third is the rarest of the three Volume V Companions.

Here is the British first edition, only printing, a near fine example in a very good dust jacket. The red cloth binding is square, clean, and tight with sharp corners, bright spine gilt, and no concavity to the massive spine. We note light shelf wear to the bottom edge and a hint of wrinkling at the spine ends. The contents are clean and bright with no spotting and no previous ownership marks. The red-stained top edge retains deep, unfaded color. The dust jacket is clean, bright, and complete, with no tears or losses and still retains the original front flap price. What prevents our grading the dust jacket higher than "very good" is wrinkling and light creasing to the spine. Note that this wrinkling is barely discernible beneath the removable, archival quality clear dust jacket protector. Please note that this large, heavy book may require additional postage.

Reference: Zoller A302e3