Interval in Indo-China (Signed & Inscribed by Author to John Julius Norwich)

London: Macmillan & Co Ltd, 1956. First Edition, First Impression . Hardcover. Good/No Jacket. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Signed by Andrew Graham to ffep with an inscription to John Julius Norwich which states: "This is the first copy that I ever received of the first book I ever wrote.". The front pastedown bears Norwich's bookplate. The book comes from John Julius Norwich's library in his country home near Castle Combe, an old mill house. Norwich left most of his books for the new owners when he sold up but as the library had been flooded, many were ruined. I've sold most of what I salvaged but have just found a box with this and a few others belonging to Norwich. This book has some water damage but I saved it because of the inscription. There are signs of water damage to the spine tail, spreading onto the bottom edges of the boards which are a little warped. The page edges have spotting and a little red staining from the cloth. The endpapers have offsetting and foxing and this does affect the inscription. There are occasional light patches of marginal spotting and rippling but the contents are surprisingly clean. 164 pp; 18 b/w plates and a folding map. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. The author spent two years, 1952-1954, at Saigon in Indo-China as Assistant Military Attaché at what was then the British Legation accredited to each of the three Associated States of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. These years covered the period from just after the death of Marshal de Lattre de Tassigny, through Dien Bien Phu to the Geneva agreements, by which Vietnam was temporarily divided into two, and the war in Indo-China was brought to an end. This book deals with none of these events and is in no sense a War Book. It is simply a personal scrapbook, containing a few facts and a great many impressions of two happy, busy years spent in countries about which English people in general know little, and about which, before I went to them, I knew almost nothing." - Author's Preface.