War, Invasion & Spy
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
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
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...
War, Invasion & Spy
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.
War, Invasion & Spy
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
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.
War, Invasion & Spy
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".
War, Invasion & Spy
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.
War, Invasion & Spy
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.
War, Invasion & Spy
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…
War, Invasion & Spy
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.
War, Invasion & Spy
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.
War, Invasion & Spy
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...
Detective Fiction
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.
War, Invasion & Spy
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.
War, Invasion & Spy
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.
War, Invasion & Spy
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.
War, Invasion & Spy
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.
War, Invasion & Spy
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.
War, Invasion & Spy
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.
War, Invasion & Spy
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
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
War, Invasion & Spy
First edition, John Long Ltd, [1942]. 'A thrilling spy story of a Nazi conspiracy'
War, Invasion & Spy
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
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.
Modern Literature
First edition, Huchinson, [1943]. A rare collection of short stories, particularly scarce in the dust-jacket.
Modern Literature
Wheatley (Dennis) Mediterranean Nights – with signed photograph
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.
War, Invasion & Spy
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
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).