The Hour Before The Dawn

Used paperback may have writing, markings from the previous owner. Bumping, tears, creasing on the top, spine, edges, corners. The top corner has been cut off. The lower corner has been dog-eared. Outer edges might have tanning, browning, stains, curling, foxing. Damp stain on outer edges and some pages but is still readable. Somerset Maugham wrote than novel as pure propaganda, something he self-confessed he never had any talent for, nor inclination for that matter, and he did it as a patriotic chore during the Second World War. The history of ''The Hour Before the Dawn'' is long and complex one, with work on the novel and corresponding screenplay intertwined, but the important point to bear in mind is that Maugham did the job on commission from the British Ministry of Information, very much in haste and with a great deal of reluctance. To this sketchy historical background it should be added that Maugham himself disliked the book so much that did everything to prevent (successfully) its publishing in England. As always, Maugham was his own best critic. 1942. A19.