The Post-War Speeches - a full set of jacketed U.S. first editions: The Sinews of Peace, Europe Unite, In the Balance, Stemming the Tide

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1949. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Here is a full set of U.S. editions of Churchill's postwar speeches in the scarce dust jackets. These volumes span the period from immediately after the Second World War, when Churchill was Leader of the Opposition, through the end of 1952, during his second Premiership. The events encompassed by these years are in many ways no less dramatic than those of the war years - the unraveling of the British Empire, the post-war recovery, the beginning of the Cold War, Soviet acquisition of the atomic bomb and U.S. invention of the hydrogen bomb. The U.S. postwar speeches were published in very small numbers, making jacketed U.S. editions much rarer than their British counterparts. Collectors should note that the U.S. postwar speeches compmrise only four volumes, as the fifth and final volume, The Unwritten Alliance, had no U.S. edition.

All four volumes offered here are in near-fine condition with no spotting and no previous owner inscriptions. All four dust jackets are unclipped, still bearing their original front flap prices. Stemming the Tide (one of only 1,850 copies printed and the scarcest of the four) is bright, tight, and square with sharp corners and clean contents. The dust jacket remains bright and clean with unfaded red spine lettering, but shows some chipping at the spine ends and corners. In the Balance (one of 2,000 copies printed) retains a clean, tight, and square brown cloth binding with only trivial shelf wrinkling at the spine ends, as well as crisp, bright contents marred only by dust soiling to the top edge. The unclipped jacket retains unfaded red spine color, showing some edge wear, including a few short closed tears and some chipping at the spine ends.

Europe Unite (one of 2,500 copies printed) retains a bright and clean turquoise cloth binding with only minor wrinkling at the spine ends. The contents are bright and clean with minor dust soiling to the top edge. The dust jacket is clean, bright, and highly complete. Spine presentation is superior, with only a barely discernible hint of sunning, fractional losses at the spine corners, and a tiny abrasion above the publisher's name. The Sinews of Peace (one of 3,000 copies printed) features a clean, vivid blue binding, marred only by small bumps at the top corners of the rear cover. The contents are crisp, clean, bright, and tight. The dust jacket is bright and unclipped, showing none of the usual fading, with minor wear mostly confined to the corners and spine ends. All four dust jackets are protected in removable, archival quality clear covers.

Reference: Cohen A241.2, A246.2, A255.2, A264.2; Woods/ICS A124(b), A128(b), A130(b), A137(b); Langworth pages 285, 297, 302, 310