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Guide
to Books written by Sir Winston Churchill
THE
STORY OF THE MALAKAND FIELD FORCE |
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| Churchill's
first book, published in 1898. Churchill used family connections
to get himself assigned to an expeditionary force on the
Northwest Frontier of India in 1897. This is the area
which today is Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the reports
of 1897 differ from those of today mainly in the weapons
employed. Churchill wrote a series of despatches for The
Daily Telegraph for which he received £5 per column.
Returning to Bangalore in late 1897, Churchill used these
letters as the basis for his first book, THE STORY OF
THE MALAKAND FIELD FORCE First
editions are extremely scarce now with prices
over $5000 regularly seen. The first
edition was issued in a light green cloth,
but there was also a Colonial
edition in decorated grey green cloth, which
is actually far scarcer than the normal home first edition,
as most copies sold in India and such places were soon
destroyed by the unfavourable conditions. The first edition
was issued with many errors as Churchill was in India
and so a new revised edition was rushed out in 1899, and
this Silver
Library edition was really the first authorised
edition. The Silver
Library edition had two impressions: the first
said "New edition", the second said "New
impression". Many collectors mistakenly think the
first impression is not so. A small cheap edition was
during the First World war by Thomas
Nelson. This work was out of print for many
years until a new edition was issued in late 1989 by Leo
Cooper at £14.95, but has now gone out
of print again. |
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Click on red text or pictures below
to view current inventory of specific edition.
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