FROM THE RED ARMY TO SOE.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.NFINE/VG+.Neat ink,dated gift presentation inscrptn to top,left-hand corner of front board,hidden behind dw/dj's front inner flap,and no price-clip to same.Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated dw/dj,red+ yellow letters to black background upper wrap,also with some light writing indents/impressions,facsimile b/w photographic obituary notices/newspaper cuttings montage illustrated rear wrap; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - no major nicks or tears present.Publisher's bright,clean original,plain red cloth boards very lightly cocked,with bright,crisp,blocked gilt letters to spine/backstrip and clean white endpapers. Top+fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright,tight and clean - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners - possibly an unread copy? UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,10-176pp [paginated] includes illus list/table,author preface,19 chapters,49 b/w contemporary photographs throughout the text and the book,2 b/w maps also in the text, appendix,a bibliography and an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,a dedication and a contents list/table.Book out-of-print,as publisher ceased trading in 1980's. William Kimber himself,worked for Hutchinson for about 17 years before founding "William Kimber & Co" in 1950.It specialized in aviation, war memoirs,autobiographies and motor-racing titles until 1973 when "Haunted Cornwall" took off and the Ghost Stories became another specialty. The company was bought by Thorsons in 1988,and therefore ceased publishing under that name.
Thorsons was purchased by William Collins in 1989. William Collins became wholly owned by News Corporation in 1990,and was then incorporated into HarperCollins Publishers.The name of William Kimber has not been used for publishing since that,making all previously published titles by them,out-of-print,u nder that name. Major Len Manderstam was one of the most remarkable secret agents of the Second World War.Born in Riga and a fluent Russian speaker,he was to be recruited to the Special Operations Executive soon after war broke out and became head of its Russian section.During the Revolution Manderstam founded a school militia which freed political prisoners and as a teenager became a colonel in Trotsky's Red Army on the Eastern Front. Horrified by Bolshevik atrocities,he rebelled and was thrown into Lubianka prison, narrowly escaping the firing squad.He left Russia for Africa in the 1920's and joined SOE in 1939.He headed the newly-formed Angola section and was involved in clandestine missions to blow up Nazi supply stores and sabotage U-boat fuel. He also arranged single-handed the capture of a Vichy French ship and its valuable cargo for which he was made an MBE.After serving in North Africa, Italy,Spain,Portugal,France and Germany,he was appointed head of SOE Russian section.His tasks included checking out reports that large numbers of Russian exiles were serving in the German Army and liaising closely with his NKVD counterparts in the Soviet secret service.He later led protests against the forcible repatriation of Soviet prisoners,giving grave warnings to the Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden and to the Prime Minister,but to no avail.He described this action as 'one of the most horrible and despicable in British history,condemning more than two million people to execution or the living death of Soviet labour camps'. These memoirs not only point towards a man of exceptional talent and strength of character but also uncover the little-known networks of the Special Operations Executive in neutral countries. Please contact seller @ rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,because of the weight/value of this item,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **