The River War.
London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1951. Hardcover. This is the final printing of the bibliographically important 1933 edition of Churchill's second published book, a very good plus copy in a very good dust jacket. Originally published in 1899, The River War recounts Churchill's experiences and reflections concerning British involvement in the Sudan, including Churchill’s participation in “the last great British cavalry charge”.
The mustard-yellow cloth binding is square, clean, bright, and tight with unfaded color, bright spine gilt, sharp corners, and only light shelf wear to extremities, including wrinkled spine ends. The contents are clean and bright. Differential toning of the endpapers corresponding to the dust jacket flaps confirms that this copy has spent life jacketed. Light spotting appears confined to the endpapers, halt title, title page, and the top edges of the text block, which also shows some shelf dust. The sole previous ownership mark is a name and “1960” date inked at the upper right corner of the front free endpaper recto and a small, illustrated London bookseller’s ticket (FOYLES) affixed to the lower left front pastedown. This fifth impression dust jacket features dark yellow faces and spine, front cover illustrations, and print in red and dark blue. Unique to the fifth impression is the rear face advertisement for "A History of Europe". This example is both unfaded and complete - unclipped, retaining the original front flap price, and showing no appreciable loss. This more than compensates for light overall soiling and light shelf wear to extremities, including a short closed tear at the lower front joint. The jacket is protected beneath a removable, clear, archival cover.
In 1933, a so-called "Second Cheap Edition" was made from plates of the 1902 edition with a bibliographically significant new introduction by the author explaining that "A generation has grown up which knows little of why we are in Egypt and the Sudan." There were ultimately five printings of this edition with at least seven different dust jackets issued (at least two for the 1933 second printing and two for this final, 1951 printing). This fifth printing in the 1951 issue dust jacket was the last issue of this edition in Churchill's lifetime, issued during his second and final premiership. The 1951 dust jacket features the same front face illustration and spine as the 1949 dust jacket, but with an entirely different rear face and some differences to the front flap.
In 1883, Mahdist forces of messianic leader Mohammed Ahmed overwhelmed the Egyptian army of British commander William Hicks and Britain ordered withdrawal from the Sudan. In 1885, General Gordon famously lost his life in a doomed defense of Khartoum, where he had been sent to lead evacuation of Egyptian forces. General Kitchener reoccupied the Sudan in 1898. With him was a very young Winston Churchill, who participated in “the last great British cavalry charge” during the battle of Omdurman in September 1898, where the Mahdist forces were decisively defeated. Writing about the British campaign in the Sudan, Churchill - a young officer in a colonial British army - is unusually sympathetic to the Mahdist cause and critical of Imperial cynicism and cruelty. This work offers us the candid perspective of the future 20th century icon from the distinctly 19th century battlefields where Churchill learned to write and earned his early fame. The text is arresting, insightful, powerfully descriptive, and of enduring relevance.
Reference: Cohen A2.4.e, Woods/ICS A2(da.5), Langworth p.33. Item #008619
Price: $250.00