Sassoon, Siegfried

The Memoirs of George Sherston

Harrisburg, PA: Giniger/ Stackpole Books, 1967. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. "The Memoirs of George Sherston brings together in one memorable volume the three widely-hailed "autobiographical novels" of the eminent English poet, Siegfried Sassoon. Set against the dark background of World War I, this extraordinary trilogy follows the author's wartime fortunes and examines his emotional growth under the cruel pressures of hand-to-hand combat in the field. Perhaps the most striking qualities of Sassoon's record are its honesty, its simplicity and its lack of pretentiousness and false heroics. It is, after all, a deeply personal account of a complete phase of a man's life, spanning in continuous narrative form the period from the author's childhood to the war's end." (from front flap) The three canonical autobiographical novels by Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967), the legendary British poet, author & soldier in the First World War. Memoirs of a Fox Hunting Man (1928), Memoirs of an Infantry officer (1930) & Sherston's Progress (1936) were first gathered into one volume in Britain during 1937. Here we offer the first American compilation of the collected Sherston novels, published near the end of his life in the year of his death at the age of 80, after a life of adventure & prolific writing that resonates more than ever in our day. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first edition thus, first printing with no references to further printings on copyright page. A pioneering collective work of autobiographical fiction; a cautionary classic of ultra-realistic literature. Book in near-fine condition with mild rubbing, a touch of browning & occasional spotting to grey cloth front, back covers & endpapers (orange lettering at spine & front cover mostly bright & fully intact); slight wear & a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same; mild rubbing, browning & sparse spotting to side & lower edges of text block; medium-to-significant fading, light rubbing to red-dyed upper edge of same. Interior fine with very slight browning mostly to blank margins/edges of page leaves; previous owner's signature, date & place in cursive black ink at upper right margin of blank orange front endpaper; a different owner's name crossed out in black felt-tip ink just below, bleeding onto surface of blank orange verso of same. Dust jacket near-fine with mild rubbing, scratching & browning to front, back covers, spine & flaps; mild-to-medium wear, tiny bumps & creases at edges & corners of same esp. spine-edges, corners with miniscule loss of paper; tape repair at inner spine edges/margins, slightly onto inner covers, with hardly any evidence of same at corresponding outer areas. An extra handling fee will be added for shipping due to the weight of this item. Near Fine / Near Fine. [Item #5157]

Price: $30.00