General Douglas MacArthur: Fighter for Freedom — First Edition, Second Printing, March 19, 1942 — Signed "Lowell Thomas" — WWII / Corregidor / Philippines

Copyright page states "First Printing March 12, 1942" and "Second Printing March 19, 1942," placing this copy among the earliest issues of this highly topical wartime biography. Approximately octavo. 280 pages. Illustrated throughout with numerous black-and-white photographs, photographic plates, maps, and a frontispiece portrait of General Douglas MacArthur. Bound in publisher's red cloth with gilt lettering to front board and spine. No dust jacket. SIGNED "LOWELL THOMAS" IN INK on an interior page. Lowell Thomas, the celebrated American journalist, broadcaster, author, and world traveler, contributed the introduction to this volume. The signature appears to have been separately applied rather than part of the surrounding typography; however, it has not been independently authenticated, and no guarantee of authenticity is made. See photographs for the signature and judge accordingly. Published at an extraordinary moment in the early Pacific War. The first printing was dated March 12, 1942, with this second printing following only seven days later, on March 19, 1942, reflecting the intense contemporary interest in MacArthur and the fighting in the Philippines. The volume presents MacArthur as a contemporary American military hero while the events described were still unfolding. Chapters cover the MacArthur military family, Douglas MacArthur's youth and military education, West Point, World War I service, Army posts in the American West, and extensive material concerning the Philippines. Particularly noteworthy illustrations include a photograph of the 16-year-old MacArthur with the 1896 West Texas Military Academy football team; portraits of his parents, General Arthur MacArthur and Mary Pinkney Hardy MacArthur; photographs relating to Bataan, Corregidor and the Philippines; military operations and defensive positions; MacArthur at headquarters; and contemporary Allied wartime scenes. Includes the striking two-page "Reader's Guide to World War II" map on pp. 204–205, depicting Axis powers, Allies, occupied countries and neutral nations and accompanied by the period caption "Human Freedom vs Despotism." An evocative example of American wartime publishing and the contemporary interpretation of the global conflict. The frontispiece depicts MacArthur saluting and identifies him as the "Hero of Luzon—World War II," describing his stand at Corregidor as creating a new American epic. An interesting early WWII MacArthur biography with considerable period photographic documentation, made significantly more desirable by the ink signature bearing the name of contributor Lowell Thomas. An unusually evocative piece of early American World War II publishing, issued while MacArthur and the Philippine campaign were headline news. Particularly suitable for collections devoted to Douglas MacArthur, Lowell Thomas, World War II, the Philippines, Bataan and Corregidor, American military history, wartime journalism, broadcasting history, or wartime propaganda and popular culture.…