THE UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II. THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE. GUARDING THE UNITED STATES AND ITS OUTPOSTS. [Inscribed to the Minister to Iceland during World War 2].

Washington, DC: Office of the Chief of Military History / Department of the Army, 1964., 1964.. Very good. - Octavo, 9-3/4 inches high by 6-3/4 inches wide. Hardcover, bound in green cloth with the American Bald Eagle crest stamped in gilt on the front cover and titled in gilt on the spine. The corners of the covers and the head and tail of the spine are bumped. xvii [1] & 593 pages with numerous photographic illustrations, 4 fold-out maps, and an additional 2 large folding maps in a rear pocket. The edges of the last few pages are lightly creased as a result of the thick pocket mounted at the rear. Very good.

First edition.

Inscribed on a special presentation plate on the front endpaper to the "Honorable Lincoln MacVeagh" who is mentioned in the book for his activities as Minister to Iceland during the war. The presentation plate is signed by each of the three authors and by the Chief of Military History Brigadier General Hal C. Pattison.

From the library of Lincoln MacVeagh and his wife Margaret with their "Arcades ambo" bookplate. Lincoln MacVeagh (1890-1972), a Renaissance man, graduated from Harvard magna cum laude in 1913. He went on to study languages at the Sorbonne and became fluent in German, French, Spanish, Latin, Greek and Classical Greek. He served in the Atois, St. Mihiel and Meuse Argonne campaigns of World War I as an aide to the commanding general of the 80th Division and of the Ninth and Sixth Army Corps. He rose to the rank of Major. After the war he became a director of the Henry Holt and Company publishing firm where he became friendly with the poet Robert Frost. In 1923 he left the firm and founded the Dial Press. His name appears on the imprint of many of their publications. In 1933 President Roosevelt appointed him Minister to Greece. He followed presentation of his credentials with a speech in Classical Greek. While in Greece he conducted excavations beneath the Acropolis and made archeological contributions to the National Museum in Athens. He left Greece in 1941 when the German army over ran the country. From there he was appointed the first US Minister to Iceland where he negotiated agreements for the construction of the Keflavik airfield. In late 1942 he became Minister to the Union of South Africa and coordinated American wartime agencies there. In 1943 he was sent to Cairo as Ambassador so that he could assist the governments in exile of Greece and Yugoslavia. He returned to Athens as Ambassador in 1944. MacVeagh gave secret testimony before Congress concerning the Balkans in 1947, testimony that was an important factor in the formation of the Truman Doctrine. In 1948 as Ambassador to Portugal MacVeagh was influential in admitting her into NATO. In 1952 President Truman named him Ambassador to Spain. President Truman wrote to him on March 9, 1948: "On the occasion of your appointment as Ambassador to Portugal, I would like to make some personal expression of appreciation for the high services you have already rendered your country. During the past fifteen critical years you have served with distinction as Chief of the United states Missions to Iceland, the Union of South Africa, Yugoslavia and Greece. In this last post especially - as Minister from 1933 to 1941 and as Ambassador since 1943 - your scholarly statesmanship and diplomatic judgment have been of the utmost value."