THE ISLAND RACE [THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLES, ABRIDGEMENT] BY WINSTON S. CHURCHILL 1964 FIRST EDITION

[CHURCHILL, Winston S.]. The Island Race [The History of the English-Speaking Peoples, abridgement]. London: Cassell, 1964.

FIRST EDITION THUS. Leather-bound, hardcover, large quarto (31.5cm x 25cm x 4cm), pp. [8], 312. English text in double columns, edited by Timothy Baker. Finely bound in half morocco gilt, cloth sides, marbled endpapers, illustrations throughout. Condition: FINE. An excellent copy.

Notes: First edition handsomely bound copy of this illustrated abridgement of the History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Churchill's history of Britain, the British Empire, and the United States, first published in four volumes from 1956 to 1958. Churchill began his history during his period in the political wilderness in the early 1930s but did not complete it until the latter 1950s, after his final retirement as Prime Minister. The events of the Second World War, the major interruption in the writing process, had reconfirmed his belief in the "special relationship", the shared heritage and destiny of Britain and the United States. Consequently he gave considerable attention to the key events of American history, especially the War of Independence and the Civil War. The work met with acclaim and proved an international best-seller, further vindicating Churchill's receipt of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953. A masterpiece of readable, popular history, it remains in print today.