War, Invasion & Spy

Showing 37–72 of 92 results

War, Invasion & Spy

Easton (John) Ferrol Bond.

£175


First edition
London, Putnam, 1933.

Signed and inscribed by the author one month after publication (March 1933). A Hubin-listed secret service adventure set in London and India.

£75



London, Robert Hale, 1952 [1953].

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

Good first UK edition of this tale of romance and espionage, 'a breath-taking romance loaded with the dynamite of military secrets and international intrigue.' (jacket blurb)

£250



London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1938.

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

An important work in the Bulldog Drummond canon, marking the transition from 'Sapper' to Fairlie. The two had worked on the story together, but McNeile died before it was finished, leaving Fairlie to take on the mantle.

War, Invasion & Spy

Fleming (Ian) Goldfinger.

£975

First edition, first impression. London, Jonathan Cape, 1959. The seventh James Bond title.

£375



London, Jonathan Cape, 1965.

First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original plain black boards. Dust-jacket, priced 18s.

A very decent first edition of the last full-length James Bond novel by Ian Fleming, in the plain second state boards. Under the heat of the Caribbean sun, Bond faces a seemingly impossible task: win a duel against Scaramanga, the Man with the Golden Gun, and regain M's trust.

War, Invasion & Spy

Gann (Ernest) Island in the Sky

£395



London, Michael Joseph, 1945.

First UK edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.

A very good first UK edition of aviator Ernest Gann's exciting, realistic aeronautic adventure set in the far north of Canada.

£125



London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1936.

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

Asian adventure from Haggard-esque author Gompertz. Uncommon in the jacket.

£135


Written by himself. Foreword by Field-Marshal Earl Haig.
London, John Murray, 1924

First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 15/-.

A scarce work in the original dust-jacket; an impressive autobiographical study by a man of equally impressive military standing, with a career spanning almost 35 years and seeing action in India, Africa and Sudan, as well as service in New Zealand and Cyprus. The foreword is by Field-Marshal Douglas Haig, a divisive figure in military history, garnering the unfavourable, and possibly unfair, moniker 'The Butcher of the Somme' for his strategic role in WW1.

£195



London, Heinemann, 1958.

First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 15s.

A very good first edition of Greene's blackly comic espionage thriller, set amid the vice and squalor of pre-revolutionary Havana.

£425

First edition.
London, Heinemann, 1939
Basis of the 1945 film starring Lauren Bacall and Peter Lorre.

£395

First edition.
London. Heinemann, 1939
The basis for the 1945 film Confidential Agent, starring Charles Boyer, Lauren Bacall, Katina Paxinou and Peter Lorre. In the book, the nationality of the agent is not stated; in the film, he is Spanish.

War, Invasion & Spy

Groom (Pelham) Whistling Wires

£150



London, Andrew Melrose, [1935].

First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth lettered in yellow. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.

Compelling jacket artwork complements this uncommon tale of aerial combat and British pluck.

War, Invasion & Spy

Horler (Sydney) The Spy

£135



London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1931.

First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 3/6 and with publisher's label declaring it as newly published.

An excellent example of this spy thriller by Horler.

War, Invasion & Spy

Hosken (Clifford) The Pretender

£295



London, Harrap, 1930.

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

Striking jacket artwork on this tale of international intrigue, centring around the fictional Balkan country of Carpathia.

War, Invasion & Spy

Household (Geoffrey) Rogue Male

£350



London, Chatto & Windus, 1939.

First edition, cut signature of author affixed to front free endpaper. 8vo. Title printed in red & black within ruled border. Original purple cloth, spine lettered in silver. Lacking dust-jacket.

The first edition of the Bristol-born Household's most famous work, a classic of thriller fiction, with (an admittedly unnamed) Hitler firmly in the author's sights.

£75



London, Museum Press, 1945.

First UK edition. 8vo. Original black cloth with white skull to spine. Dust-jacket, priced 8/6.

Striking jacket artwork on this murder-mystery with shady espionage overtones, set in New York.

War, Invasion & Spy

Johns (W.E.) Sky Fever

£195



London, Latimer House, [1953].

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

"Here are tales for all moods, blending adventure with sentiment and revealing once again that Captain Johns knows how to cater for the older reader as well as for boys and girls." (jacket blurb)

£1,250



London, Chapman & Hall, 1923.

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

Stunning jacket artwork by one of the greatest 20th century jacket artists, E. McKnight Kauffer. Given the condition of the book compared to the jacket we have to presume this is either a marriage or a case of the book and the jacket being kept apart, with the jacket filed away safely...

War, Invasion & Spy

Ladline (Robert) Stop That Man.

£295

First edition.
London. Herbert Jenkins, 1940
Spectacular front panel artwork typical of Herbert Jenkins wrappers of that era. None of this writer's work was published in America and in my experience all of the UK first editions are difficult to find in jackets.

£375



New York, William Sloane, 1957.

First US edition, first printing, inscribed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original cloth-backed boards. Dust-jacket, priced $3.50.

A great inscribed first US edition of the book that would become one of the most well-loved of the British war films (1958), starring John Mills. The inscription on the title-page reads, 'For "The Principal" To commemorate his 80th birthday and in hopes he will survive to see at least twenty more books published - Kipper - August 5th 1958' ('Kipper' being the author's nickname among friends).

£125



London, Museum Press, 1951.

First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth with silver lettering and red skull motif to spine. Dust-jacket, priced 9/6.

Intrigue split across the US, Italy and Argentina in this rare spy thriller.

£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.

£195


With an introduction by V.I. Lenin
New York, International Publishers, [?1926].

8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced $1.50.

An early reprint by the publishing house of the USA Communist Party of Reed's famous firsthand account of the 1917 Russian October Revolution, originally published in 1919. The introduction by Lenin was first added to an edition published in 1922. The NYPL records an edition published by International Publishers and ascribes the date to 1926, but we could not locate a date preceding 1939 for the Eugene Varga title promoted on the rear inside flap, so it may be later.

£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.