DIAMONDS IN THE NIGHT (First English language edition - PBO)

First English translation by Iris Urwin of this second collection of stories of 'young people in Nazi ghettos and concentration camps'. Published as a paperback original (PBO) by Artia Pocket Books, Prague. Originally published in Czechoslovakia in 1958 as "Démanty Noci". A collection of bleak but hopeful stories from the Second World War. ***Near fine in illustrated card covers. The covers are clean and unmarked, with no significant creases or bumps - just some light edge wear. No reading lean to the binding. No reading creases to the flat spine. Top edge of page block foxed. Internally also near fine with no previous ownership inscriptions. No internal foxing. Pages clean - the paper stock still white. No creases or tears. ***274 pages. 204mm x 128mm. ***Contents: A Bite to Eat, The Second Round, The White One, The Old People and Death, The Beginning and the End, Michael and the Boy with the Dagger, Darkness Throws no Shadow, The Last Day of the Flames, The Boy at the Window, The Black Lion. ***'Arnošt Lustig (21 Dec 1926 - 26 Feb 2011) was a Czech Jewish writer, playwright and screenwriter. His works have often involved the Holocaust. Lustig was born in Prague. As a Jewish boy in Czechoslovakia during World War II, he was sent in 1942 to the Theresienstadt concentration camp, from where he was later transported to the Auschwitz concentration camp, followed by time in the Buchenwald concentration camp. In 1945, he and another young man escaped from a train carrying them to Dachau when it was attacked by an American aircraft. The story "Darkness Casts No Shadow" from his book Diamonds of the Night (Czech: Démanty noci), a collection of short stories published in 1958, was inspired by this incident, and four years later the story was adapted into the film Diamonds of the Night. Lustig returned to Prague in time to take part in the May 1945 uprising against the German occupation.' (Wiki) ***A first printing of the true first English language edition in very nice collectable condition. A scarce book. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.…