THE STORY OF THE MALAKAND FIELD FORCE

THE STORY OF THE MALAKAND FIELD FORCE

Churchill's first book, true-life military adventures drawn from newspaper despatches filed by the 22-year-old correspondent while serving on India's Afghanistan-bordering Northwest Frontier under Major-General Sir Bindon Blood. Wrenching to read how little has changed in this region since Churchill's time. The First Edition is easily distinguished by its apple-green cloth binding but MALAKAND is prized by collectors in almost any edition.

Description: This is a very good copy of the First English edition in the scarce mottled-green cloth binding variant that bibliographer Ronald Cohen suggests may only have been employed for the second state. The rear publisher’s catalogue is dated 12/97, and there are no errata slips. (Frederick Woods’ original Churchill bibliography indicated two "states" based on the presence or absence of errata slips. Subsequent research has indicated that no precedence should be assigned. A rear catalogue dated 12/97 does generally mean an earlier state than copies with 3/98 catalogues.) A very good copy in the scarce mottled-green cloth binding variant. The cloth here is impressively fresh and bright, the binding crisp and tight. The contents are fine, save for very faint scattered foxing limited almost entirely to the fore-edges. This would be an exceptional example, if not for an unfortunate single reddish stain line that runs across the title on the spine and splashes in two small spots on the rear board. That is a shame. The book, however, is anything but. Really a beautiful copy overall.