Victory

Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1946. First U.S. edition, only printing. Hardcover. This is a jacketed copy of the U.S. first edition, only printing of the sixth of Churchill's seven war speech volumes. Victory contains speeches from January to August 1945. Having done so much to win the war, Churchill faced frustration of his postwar plans when his wartime government fell to Labor in the General Election of July 1945. His final speech in this volume - a review of the war delivered on 16 August 1945 to the House of Commons - is delivered as Leader of the Opposition rather than as Prime Minister.

Condition is good plus in a good dust jacket. The red cloth binding is square, clean, bright, and tight, though with bumps to the corners and wrinkling to the spine ends. The contents are clean, though age-toned. We find no previous ownership marks. A few tiny instances of spotting appear confined to the upper fore edges. The dust jacket retains the original “$3.50” front flap price and the red spine panel is only mildly dulled. The jacket is nonetheless a bit dulled and soiled overall, with wear and shallow chipping to the edges, hinges, and flap folds, as well as a few small scuffs to the lower spine. The jacket is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover.

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 and soaring, defiant oratory during the Second World War. 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.”

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 scarcer than their British counterparts.

Reference: Cohen A223.2, Woods/ICS A112(b), Langworth p.235