The World Crisis (first abridged and revised edition) by Winston S. Churchill - 1931

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1931. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. This is the first abridged and revised edition of Churchill's monumental and acclaimed history of the First World War in the original first printing dust jacket – one of the most striking and scarce dust jackets in the Churchill canon. 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. Moreover, the U.S. edition preceded the British, making it the true first edition. The front face of the yellow-tan dust jacket features a full-length, half-tone photograph of Churchill striding, in top hat with walking stick in hand. The rear cover features a smaller head and shoulders image of Churchill in the uniform of the South African Light Horse (set amid an advertisement for A Roving Commission). Writing in 1997, Churchill expert Richard Langworth said of this dust jacket "I know of only two or three of these in existence." We know of a few more than that, but certainly only a small number survive and very few collectors are able to own them. This copy is very good plus in a good plus dust jacket. The navy cloth binding is square, clean, and tight with sharp corners and bright spine gilt. The only exterior flaw noted is some flaking of the gilt at the lower spine affecting the publisher's name and the gilt rule below. The contents remain clean and bright. We find no previous ownership marks and no internal spotting. All of the extensive maps and charts are present and properly folded. A partial split of the paper at the upper title page gutter is cosmetic only, with the mull beneath fully intact and the contents remaining tight within the binding. We note very light spotting to the page edges. The rare dust jacket is substantially intact but showing overall wear and soiling. The jacket shows minor chipping to a maximum depth of .25 inch at the spine ends and front face. There is wear along the hinges and flap folds, small losses at the flap folds, and overall soiling. The upper front flap is neatly price-clipped, with the original $5 price intact on the spine. A desirable survivor withal. The jacket is protected with a removable, archival quality clear cover. 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. Despite Churchill's political recovery, the stigma of the Dardanelles would linger. Churchill may have meant for his history of the First World War to clear his name, but his six-volume masterwork far exceeds this purpose. Bibliographic reference: Cohen A69.5.a, Woods/ICS A31(ba.1), Langworth p.115.