When the Stars Begin to Fall SIGNED 1st Edition 2021

A particularly desirable signed copy of Theodore R. Johnson's debut book, an examination of race, citizenship, and the possibility of national solidarity in the United States. Johnson, then a senior fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice and previously a U.S. Navy commander, White House Fellow, and speechwriter to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, combines political analysis, American history, family history, and his own military experience to argue that the traditions of citizenship and solidarity developed within Black America offer a model for a genuinely multiracial national community. The book received significant contemporary attention: Publishers Weekly called it a passionate and persuasive debut, while Kirkus characterized it as an impassioned examination of structural racism and the search for lasting solutions. This copy is personally inscribed by Johnson on the page facing the title, "In Solidarity, Ted," and additionally bears his full stylized signature beneath his printed name on the title page - two separate autograph examples in the same copy. The copyright page states FIRST EDITION and "First Grove Atlantic hardcover edition: June 2021," with the complete number line ending in 1, confirming the first printing. The book was designed by Norman E. Tuttle of Alpha Design & Composition and set in Adobe Caslon Pro. Alison Forner designed the jacket. Most notably, the jacket photograph is credited to the Estate of James Karales, courtesy of Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York. It is Karales' dramatic 1965 image of marchers silhouetted beneath storm clouds during the Selma-to-Montgomery march in Lowndes County, Alabama - an image also held by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Condition: Near Fine book / Very Good dust jacket. Blue cloth-covered boards remain clean and attractive with bright silver spine lettering; binding is square and secure and the interior is clean. The author's inscription and signatures are the notable markings. Mustard-yellow endpapers are clean and vivid. Dust jacket is complete and retains its original price, with moderate handling and surface rubbing, a scratch beneath the title, light edge/corner wear and minor creasing, but no substantial loss; overall Very Good. An attractive signed first-printing copy. Grove Atlantic currently describes Johnson as a senior adviser at New America leading its Us@250 initiative associated with the U.S. semiquincentennial.…