The World Crisis 1911-1918 by Winston S. Churchill - 1932

London: Thornton Butterworth, Ltd., 1932. First abridged and revised edition, second printing. Hardcover. This is a jacketed British first edition, second printing of the first Abridged & Revised edition of Churchill's monumental and acclaimed history of the First World War. This copy is notable for several reasons. First, this comes from the personal collection of Churchills bibliographer, Ronald I. Cohen. Second, it features the scarce and exceptionally perishable vivid green first printing dust jacket. Third and finally, this is the only example of this jacket we have ever encountered thus, with entirely unfaded, rich, vivid green hue remaining on the entire jacket, including the spine.

This book has resided in Mr. Cohens collection for many decades and came to him thus. A plausible explanation for the pairing is that some few remaining first printing dust jackets were still on hand with the publisher when this second printing was issued and hence they were so paired.

Condition is very good plus in a very good dust jacket. The green cloth binding is square and tight with sharp corners. Modest shelf wear is evident only at the extremities. The binding spine remains bright, with vivid gilt and green hues, consonant with a copy that has spent life jacketed. The sole appreciable exterior detraction is some reddish transfer to the covers, notionally from the jacket. The contents remain bright with a crisp feel. Spotting appears confined to the endpapers and page edges. We find no previous ownership marks.

The dust jacket is marvelously bright, the green hue vivid, the red print likewise unfaded. We note almost no discernible color shift between the faces, flaps, and spine. The jacket is also notably clean, with just a stray mark vertically following the price on the lower spine. The think jacket paper is wrinkled and creased no the rear panel, including a vertical center crease, and there is minor wear and loss to extremities, including a short closed tear at the lower rear face, fractional chipping to the lower spine and flap fold extremities, and chipping to a maximum depth of .5 inch (1.3 cm) at the spine head and to a maximum depth of .75 inch (1.9 cm) at the upper rear flap. The dust jacket is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover.

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. Churchill's history - which he titled The World Crisis - was originally published in six volumes between 1923 and 1931. This important edition covering the war years 1911-1918 is not just an abridgement. It incorporates revisions by Churchill with new material, including a whole new chapter on the Battle of the Marne, as well as a new introduction.

Of The World Crisis, Frederick Woods wrote: "The volumes contain some of Churchill's finest writing, weaving the many threads together with majestic ease, describing the massive battles in terms which fitly combine relish of the literary challenge with an awareness of the sombre tragedy of the events." Churchill was in a special position to write this history, having served both in the Cabinet and on the Front. Churchill served as First Lord of the Admiralty from 1911 until 1915, but after the failure in the Dardanelles, he was scapegoated and forced to resign. He spent his political exile as a lieutenant colonel leading a battalion in the trenches. Before the war's end, Churchill was exonerated and rejoined the Government, foreshadowing the political isolation and restoration he would experience nearly two decades later leading up to the Second World War.

Reference: Cohen A69.6.b, Woods/ICS A31(bb.2), Langworth p.113