The War Speeches of the Rt. Hon. Winston S. Churchill, three volume set by Winston S. Churchill - 1952

London: Cassell and Company Ltd., 1952. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/Near fine. This is a superior first edition, first printing set of the three-volume "definitive" edition of Churchill's war speeches. During his long public life, Winston Churchill played many roles worthy of historical note - member of Parliament for more than half a century, distinguished soldier and war correspondent, author of scores of books, ardent social reformer, combative cold warrior, Nobel Prize winner. But more than anything else, it was Winston Churchill's leadership during the Second World War that made him a preeminent historical figure. His soaring and defiant oratory sustained his countrymen and inspired the free world during the greatest war the world has ever known. Of Churchill, Edward R. Murrow said: "He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle." Between 1941 and 1946, Churchill's war speeches were published in seven individual volumes. In 1952, during Churchill's second premiership, the publisher reissued the War Speeches as a new, three-volume edition. This edition is, in many ways, superior to the original seven wartime editions in both aesthetics and content. Gone is the cheap economy paper of the wartime editions. The binding is a heavy navy cloth with attractive, uniform dust jackets. Further, the books measure a substantial 10 x 6.25 inches. New speeches are added, as is a very helpful index. Some of the original speeches considered peripheral are eliminated while others are retitled and chronological dates are replaced with brief transitional or introductory notes. These sets have become quite scarce in the original dust jackets and particularly so in top condition. Here is an excellent set, near-fine in near-fine first printing dust jackets. The dust jackets are entirely complete, unclipped with no losses. The jackets show no spotting and only incidental soiling. These dust jackets proved quite susceptible to significant spine toning. Here toning to the jacket spines is quite mild and the only minor flaw worthy of note. The volumes beneath are excellent. The blue cloth bindings are superlative - square, tight, and clean with nicely rounded spines, bright spine gilt, sharp corners, and virtually no wear. Notably, the contents show absolutely no spotting and no previous ownership marks. Even the text block edges remain unusually bright and clean with neither age-toning nor spotting. The sole flaw that keeps these volumes from being truly fine is some misguided protection; the previous owner had applied heavy dust jacket protectors sealed with sellotape where they covered the flap folds. This tape was not affixed to either the jackets or the books beneath, but regrettably left some glue staining to the ffep corners of each volume as the tape aged and deteriorated. This is a minor flaw and pardonable given that the dust jackets and volumes beneath were otherwise so very well preserved as a result of the old protectors. The dust jackets are newly fitted with removable, archival quality clear covers. Bibliographic reference: Cohen A263.1(I-III).a, Woods/ICS A136(a.1), Langworth p.303.