London: Cassell and Company Ltd., 1956
First Edition, First Impression
Octavo. With frontispiece portrait and 21 maps. Original publisher’s green cloth, gilt lettering to spine, in the original pictorial dust jacket.
The classic memoir of the Burma campaign, widely regarded as one of the finest military autobiographies of the twentieth century.
Field-Marshal Sir William Slim’s account of the war in Burma - from the retreat of 1942 through the rebuilding of morale, reorganisation of the Fourteenth Army, and ultimate victory over Japanese forces - remains a masterclass in leadership under adversity. Clear, unsentimental, and strategically insightful, it is frequently cited alongside the very best command memoirs of either World War.
First impressions of the 1956 Cassell edition are increasingly difficult to find and even more so in strong dust jackets. The jacket, with its distinctive XIV insignia and photographic rear panel portrait, is notoriously prone to wear, rubbing, and loss. Examples surviving in sharp, unrestored condition are scarce.
At the time of listing, there is no comparable first impression on the market in dust jacket of similar quality.
Condition
Book near fine. Cloth clean and tight, gilt bright. Internally clean.
Dust jacket exceptionally well preserved. Minor rubbing to extremities and small closed nicking at lower spine edge, but overall remarkably fresh, with strong colour and no significant loss. An unusually crisp example.
