The Unrelenting Struggle

Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1942. First U.S. edition, first printing. Hardcover. This is a quite presentable copy of the U.S. first edition, first printing of Churchill's second war speeches volume. The Unrelenting Struggle contains 72 of Churchill's speeches, broadcasts, and messages to Parliament from November 1940 to the end of 1941, terminating with Churchill’s famous speeches to the U.S. Congress and the Canadian Parliament. Churchill's words during this time resounded during some of the darkest and most uncertain days of the war.

This first U.S. edition, first printing, is a collector-worthy example, near fine in a very good dust jacket. The red cloth binding is clean, square, bright, and tight, with sharp corners and only a hint of wrinkling to the spine ends. The contents are beautifully bright within. We find no spotting and no previous ownership marks. The book feels unread. Only the text block edges show some mild shelf soiling. The dust jacket is neatly price-clipped and has shallow loss at the spine ends and flap fold corners, but more than compensates with a vividly red, unfaded spine title and print. As a result, shelf presentation is far superior to most first edition copies we encounter. The white rear panel is lightly soiled, but complete, and the illustrated front panel remains bright with only mild wrinkling and scuffs, mostly to extremities. The dust jacket is protected beneath a removable, clear, archival cover.

Between 1941 and 1946, Churchill's war speeches were published in seven individual volumes in both British and U.S. editions. The U.S. first editions were generally published in smaller numbers and are considerably scarcer today than their British counterparts, particularly in collector-worthy condition in first printing dust jackets.

Few books are as emblematic of Churchill’s literary and leadership gifts as his war speeches volumes. During his long public life, Winston Churchill played many roles worthy of note - Member of Parliament for more than half a century, soldier and war correspondent, author of scores of books, ardent social reformer, combative cold warrior, Nobel Prize winner, painter. But Churchill's preeminence as a historical figure owes most to his indispensable leadership during the Second World War, when his soaring and defiant oratory sustained his countrymen and inspired the free world. Of Churchill, Edward R. Murrow said: "He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle." When Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953, it was partly “…for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values.”

Reference: Cohen A172.2.a, Woods/ICS A89(b.1), Langworth p.214.