War, Invasion & Spy

Showing 37–71 of 71 results

War, Invasion & Spy

Langdon-Davies (John) Air Raid:

£125


The technique of silent approach: high explosives: panic
London, Routledge, 1938.

First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.

An examination of air raid precautions (ARP) taken from a psychological perspective - uncommon.

£110



London, John Hamilton, [1938].

First edition. 2pp. advertisements for the 'Ace Series'. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, dated 3s.6d.

'In a tiny plane, far above the Sahara, Michael Wright directs the operations of Doctor Oberlin's mighty fleet of bombers as it flies northward to encompass the destruction of Europe.' (jacket blurb)

£250

First edition.
London. Hutchinson, [1940]
Part of the ‘First Novel’ series. Hutchinson’s First Novel Library would go on to publish a total of 139 titles in the series before ending in 1951, comprising first novels, often by authors using a pseudonym.

War, Invasion & Spy

Martyn (Wyndham) Noonday Devils

£275



London, Herbert Jenkins, 1939.

First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.

The name's Bond...Christopher Bond... this Pre-James Bond is also caught up in the murky world of espionage. An attractive dust-jacket to boot.

£120


A Prophetic Novel
London, Grayson & Grayson, 1934.

First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth lettered in red.

A prophetic novel indeed, anticipating Churchill's anxiety at the potential readiness of Germany to have at its disposal long-range, high-speed bomber planes. The work was inspired by Stanley Baldwin's 1932 speech to the House of Commons in which he described the threat aerial bombing represented, and suggested that preemptive offence would be the only defence in such circumstances.

War, Invasion & Spy

McKenna (Marthe) Double Spy.

£195


A Story of Modern Secret Service
London, Jarrolds, 1938.

First edition. 8vo. Original oatmeal cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.

Attractive first edition of this autobiographical work by the genuine female spy Marthe Mathilde McKenna née Cnockaert, awarded British, French and Belgian honours for gallantry for her espionage work, and subject of the 1933 film I was a Spy.

War, Invasion & Spy

McKenna (Marthe) Set a Spy

£150



London, Jarrolds, [1937].

First edition. 8vo. Original oatmeal cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.

Attractive first edition - the British Empire is in danger after a dubious disarmament policy, with the threat of war looming large on the horizon...

£275

London, Harrap, 1939. First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, price from inside flap removed by clumsy tear. An uncommon dust-jacket by jacket legend Youngman Carter, in better condition than normally found.

£95

First edition. London & Glasgow, Blackie & Son Limited, [1932] An attractive early jacketed work on aviation, in the rare dust-jacket.by Leslie Carr (more well-known perhaps for his depictions of locomotives).

War, Invasion & Spy

Neumann (Alfred) The Hero

£95



London, Martin Secker, October 1931.

First English edition, second printing. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.

Wonderful jacket artwork on this story of a political assassin during the few days before the shooting of a Minister of State.

£195


House Agent
London, Mills & Boon, 1935.

First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth blocked in black. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.

From a publishing POV at the minimum, Evans is an interesting author, one of a select few that canny publishers Mills & Boon convinced to adopt at least one pen-name to increase their "representability" via libraries such as Boots and W.H. Smith, who would normally only represent no more than two books by any author a year. Evans wrote over 120 novels for Mills & Boon, at a fairly high standard, under her own name and her "nom de guerres".

£225



London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1937.

First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.

Spy thriller in great Bip Pares jacket; Mark Humberstone and a man called Cheng bequeath a marvellous wireless technology to the shady espionage organisation the Council of Seven.

£185



London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1935.

First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 7/6.

The last espionage novel by this prolific author who famously enjoyed the high-life. A rousing tale of the quest for world peace via the machinations of Italian Fascism.

£2,500



London, Putnam, 1929.

First English edition. 8vo. Original oatmeal cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.

A superb first English-language edition of Remarque's classic of World War I literature, published only two months after the first German edition.

£80



London, John Hamilton, [1936].

First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3s6d.

A solid first edition of a classic aviation tale by prolific writer George E. Rochester, drawing on his own experience in the Royal Flying Corps; bandit menace in the air above Tibet, bad Buddhists, and more…

£80



London, John Hamilton, [1936].

First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth with black spine labels. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.

Howard and Carstairs face aerial threat from the eponymous pirates of the air, in this aviation thriller drawing upon the author's own experiences in the Royal Flying Corps.

£95



London, John Hamilton, [1936].

First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.

Further aeronautical tales of peril from Rochester, drawing to some degree on his own experiences with the Royal Flying Corps. Jacket artwork by one of the best at this sort of thing, Howard Leigh.

£120



London, John Hamilton, [1936].

First edition. Ace Series. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3s.6d.

A solid first edition of a classic aviation tale by prolific writer George E. Rochester, drawing on his own experience in the Royal Flying Corps; bandit menace in the air above Tibet, bad Buddhists, and more...

£250


First UK edition.
London, Robert Hale, 1944.

Collection of short stories (here presented in the form of a novel) featuring Major Baruk, an Anglo-Arab soldier detective, most with Middle East settings. Uncommon in jacket.

£360



London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1933.

First edition. 8vo. Original pale blue cloth. Dust-jacket, price ablated from spine.

A pleasing first edition of this collection of short stories by 'Sapper', featuring the character Ronald Standish as chief protagonist (appearing previously only in 'The Saving Clause' (1927) and 'Tiny Carteret' (1930)). Sapper of course most well-known for creating Bulldog Drummond.

£125



London, Collins, 1962.

First edition. 8vo. Original blue boards. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 16s.

The second of two books by Alistair MacLean under the pseudonym Ian Stuart. Chemical warfare hangs ominously over the City of London.

£200



London, Ward, Lock, 1901.

First edition, full-page autograph inscription from the author to the blank recto of the frontispiece. 8vo. 4 plates, 12pp. advertisements. Original pictorial cloth.

An appreciative, borderline fawning, gift inscription from the trade unionist and Liberal-Labour politician, T.R. Threlfall, to the Sir George Alexander Cooper, 1st Baronet.

£125

First edition, Constable, 1937. A WWI novel documenting the record of over four years’ occupation by the German army as experienced by dozens of the inhabitants of the occupied districts of northern France. Rare in dw.

£225



London, Herbert Jenkins, [1942].

First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.

A striking first edition of this romantic, behind-the-scenes thriller of the Secret Service by a prolific author.

£225


Translated from the German by Huntley Paterson.
London, Harrap, 1931.

First UK edition, second impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.

A superb copy of this gripping first-hand account of the German Zeppelin raids on England during the Second World War.

£95



London, Columbine, [1939].

First edition. 8vo. Original red boards. Dust-jacket, overlaid price of 5/- on spine and lower panel.

Aviation thriller about a missing bomber; the jacket extolls the author's virtues enthusiastically, but nevertheless this is the only title we can locate by this author.

War, Invasion & Spy

Walsh (J.M.) Death at his Elbow

£195

First edition. A very attractive example with jacket design by Abbey.
London, Collins, 1941
A typical espionage title set in Istanbul by James Morgan Walsh, born 1897 to 1952, also wrote as H. Haverstock Hill, Stephen Maddock, George M. White. He was born in Australia and came to England in 1925. The majority of his work leans towards spy and adventure rather than pure detective fiction

£175



London, Collins, 1941.

First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.

The continuing adventures of secret service agent Oliver Keene - borderline sci-fi by Australian-born James Morgan Walsh.

War, Invasion & Spy

Waring (D.G.) Hatred Therewith

£95

First edition, John Long Ltd, [1942]. 'A thrilling spy story of a Nazi conspiracy'

£100



London, Chapman & Hall, 1955.

First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 12s.6.

A very good first edition of the second book in Waughs' Sword of Honour trilogy, loosed derived from the author's own wartime experiences.

War, Invasion & Spy

Wheatley (Dennis) Contraband

£875

London, Hutchinson, 1936. First edition. Signed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6. A rare 'thirties Wheatley first edition, enhanced further by the inscription from the author, 'To Mr E.W. Sheppard With the best of good wishes from his friend Dennis Wheatley'. Sheppard could possibly by the military historian, who was certainly writing around the same time.

£175

First edition, Huchinson, [1943]. A rare collection of short stories, particularly scarce in the dust-jacket.

£375

First edition, [1942]. A collection of Wheatley's short stories, rare in the dust-jacket. Included with this is a signed photograph of the German singer & actress Renate Müller (1906-1937), who was the inspiration for the Wheatley short story 'Espionage'. A tragic life cut short on the back of a blossoming career, either being murdered by the Gestapo or intimidated by them sufficiently that she seemingly took her own life. The story and a short discussion of the incident involved are included in this collection.

£250



London, Hutchinson, 1941.

First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 9/6.

The second of three novels by Wheatley featuring Julian Day.

War, Invasion & Spy

Wren (P.C.) Flawed Blades

£200

First edition. Foreign Legion short stories.
London, John Murray, 1933
A fine first English edition of this compilation of Foreign Legion stories by the author of Beau Geste (1924), in the fabulous Art Deco design correctly priced at 7/6 on front flap. 'Very many of these men are examples of the "flawed blades" that have snapped, leaving little but the sheath that once contained the sword - spirits that have broken, leaving only a weary body.' (dust-jacket).