The Dark Stain (First Edition) by Appel, Benjamin - 1943

New York: Dial, 1943. First Edition. First Edition. The author's unaccountably scarce fifth novel. A prescient work for 1943 that, like much of the author's oeuvre, is crime fiction from a politically radical perspective that addresses the presence of fascism in a democratic society in a style that is realistic rather than theoretical, making it a study of how fascism evolves, how it can be recognized, and how it can be eradicated. To wit, from the rear panel summary: "There have always been Americans, slave-owners, Ku Luxers, Know Nothings, Lynchers, Vigilantes, Christian Fronters, American Firsters, etc, who have constantly striven against Americans who have worked and dreamed of a nation living in harmony, a multi-nation of blacks and whites, Anglo-Americans and Jewish, Irish, Italian, Polish Americans. These two Americas exists side by side; only one of them can win". Near Fine in a Very Good or better dust jacket with moderate wear at the extremities but no loss.