Winncroft Eileen (2 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. First Edition. Label on front endpaper "Glen Historic Collection / Southland". Previous owner's name dated Xmas '58 on front endpaper. Fading to dust-jacket spine. 12mm tears to margins of dust-jacket. Dust-jacket is price-clipped. Dust-jacket protected in archival cover.; 255, [1 (blank)] pages + frontispiece + 10 illustrtions on 4 plate leaves. Red cloth boards with gilt lettering on spine. Page dimensions: 210 x 135mm. "This is a war-book with a difference - a dramatic and moving account by an ordinary German housewife of everyday life in wartime Berlin. The Berlin of 1939 - gay, exultant, intoxicated with easy victories - is the backgound to the personal drama of a young woman deserted by her husband, lonely, miserable, desperately missing the two sons she has reluctantly placed with foster parents in order to earn a living. Three years of devastating Allied air attacks and mounting German defeats in the field are seen through the eyes of a woman, now happily remarried, fearful for the safety of her re-united family, her mother-in-law in Hamburg and her brother on the Russian front. The siege of Berlin is rememberd by a woman whose brother was killed in the city's defence; the harsh realities of defeat and occupation are made vivid and unforgettable by someone whose home was turned into a soldiers' billet, whose husband was shot by Russian invaders." - from dust-jacket blurb.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. Smith, Rupert (dust jacket) (illustrator). First Edition. [8]-255p. Black and white photographic plates. "A dramatic and moving account by an ordinary German housewife of everyday life in wartime Berlin. Three years of devastating Allied air attacks and mounting German defeats in the field are seen through the eyes of a woman, fearful for her family, her mother-in-law in Hamburg and her brother on the Russian front. The siege of Berlin is remembered by a woman whose brother was killed in the city's defence; the harsh realities of defeat and occupation are made vivid and unforgettable by someone whose home was turned into a soldiers' billet, whose husband was shot by the Russian invaders. [This book] is at once a remarkable evocation of the changing face of a city at war and a powerful indictment of the folly and stupidity of war." - dust jacket. Unmarked with average wear. Binding sound. Moderate foxing to edges. A quality example of the first edition. Kehr & Langmaid 4668. Madden p.362.