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This book is the precursor to Churchill s great war speeches, the first edition, only printing. This particular copy is increasingly scarce thus, in the first issue dust jacket. This copy is very good in a very good dust jacket. The blue cloth binding is beautifully square and tight with sharp corners and vivid spine gilt. We would grade this copy as near fine if not for some discoloration at the lower fore edge of the rear cover. Apart from that, we note only a hint of sunning at the spine tips and front cover corners corresponding to tiny dust jacket losses. The contents retain a crisp, unread feel. We find no previous ownership marks. Trivial spotting appears confined to the endpapers. The blue-stained top edge is a bit grayed, but retains dark color. The half-title and blank preceding the final free endpaper both show differential toning corresponding to dust jacket flaps, affirming that this copy has always been jacketed. The dust jacket is unclipped, retaining the original lower front flap price, and substantially complete, with tiny losses confined to the flap fold corners and spine ends. The jacket shows moderate overall soiling, slightly more to the spine. Nonetheless, the spine retains bright blue hue. There is old, clear tape reinforcement to the verso along the edges. The dust jacket is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover.Arms and the Covenant has been called "…the permanent record of one man s unceasing struggle in the face of resentment, apathy, and complacency" and "probably the most crucial volume of speeches that he ever published." (Frederick Woods) The book contains text from 41 Churchill speeches spanning 25 October 1928 to 24 March 1938. These criticize British foreign policy and warn prophetically of the coming danger. The world remembers the resolute war leader to whom the British turned, but it is easy to forget the years leading up to the war, which Churchill spent persistent, eloquent, and largely unheeded, often at odds with both his own political party and prevailing public sentiment.The speeches were compiled by Churchill's son, Randolph, who contributed a preface and is credited with compilation. Randolph would do the same for his father's first volume of war speeches, Into Battle, published in an almost unrecognizable world less than three years later. The "Covenant" in the title of Arms and the Covenant refers to the League of Nations Covenant, the instrument that was to maintain peace in the wake of the First World War. As testimony to the book's importance, a copy of the U.S. edition lay on "President Roosevelt's bedside table, with key passages, including an analysis of the president's peace initiative, underscored" (William Manchester's The Last Lion, Volume II, p.305). The British first edition saw only a single printing of 5,000 copies published on 24 June 1938 and of these, perhaps as few as 3,381 were issued in the distinctive pale blue dust jacket.Reference: Cohen A107.1. Woods/ICS A44(a), Langworth p.191.
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