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This presentation copy of the first one-volume edition of Winston Churchill s second book is inscribed and dated within days of publication by Churchill to his lifelong friend, confidante, and best man at his wedding, Hugh Cecil. Churchill s inscription, inked in black in four lines on the upper half title recto, reads: "Hugh Cecil | from | Winston S. Churchill | 30 Oct 1902". Few, if any, of Churchill s associations were longer or of greater early influence; Churchill later wrote "My earliest years in Parliament were lived within the orbit of Lord Hugh Cecil." Also of note, the original "Sept. 25, 1899" dedication of the work, printed on the leaf following the title page in both the first edition and this second edition, is to Hugh Cecil's father, "The Marquess of Salisbury, K.G." In 1898, the young Churchill had sought and received the support of then-Prime Minister Lord Salisbury to secure a posting to Lord Kitchener's expedition to the Soudan, the story of which became The River War.Condition of this compelling, inscribed association copy approaches very good. The red cloth binding is square and tight with sharp corners, though the spine is sunned, the spine ends frayed, and there is some shelf wear to the bottom edges and corners. The contents are beautifully bright and clean. The original black endpapers are intact, as are all the extensive maps and plans, the publisher s rear catalogue following the text, and the frontispiece portrait of Kitchener. Only the frontispiece tissue guard is absent, resulting in some transfer to the facing title page. Trivial spotting appears almost entirely confined to the first four leaves. The fore and bottom edges are likewise as bright and clean as the contents, the top edges very lightly dust soiled.Lord Hugh Richard Heathcote Gascoyne Cecil (1869-1956) - "Linky" to friends - was a Conservative MP from 1895 to 1937, then Provost of Eton College Oxford until 1944. He was best man at Churchill's wedding in 1908 and - at the invitation of Winston, who was then Britain s Prime Minister - became Baron Quickswood in 1941. As a leader of the eponymous "Hughligans" a dissident group of young Conservative back bench MPs - Linky strongly influenced Churchill's early Parliamentary career. Both men began political careers preceded by famous fathers. But Linky's father was a living presence, Winston's a dead weight. Lord Salisbury was a Tory mainstay and thrice Prime Minister, his last premiership coinciding with Linky's election to Parliament. Lord Randolph, a fiery and erratic Tory, infamously died young, politically defeated and disgraced.Linky remained faithful to the Tory party, if not to its policy and leadership. He spent more than 40 continuous years as a conservative MP, opposing Tory orthodoxy, but with less edge, angst, urgency, and ambition than Winston. Over 40 tumultuous years from his first election to his first premiership, Winston would successively represent, oppose, loathe, reject, rejoin, fiercely criticize, and finally lead the Conservative Party. As early as 1901 Churchill considered leaving the Party and confided in Linky. On 28 December 1901, Linky wrote admonishing Winston - gently - both to wait and to modulate the tone of his criticism. One year after Winston inscribed this book, when his decision became irrevocable, he wrote a long, remarkably candid explanation to Linky: "To go on like this wavering between opposite courses, feigning friendship to a party where no friendship exists, & loyalty to leaders whose downfall is desired, sickens me." (Letter of 24 October 1903) After Winston became a Liberal in 1904 - even after Churchill rejoined the Conservatives in 1924 - Linky and Winston sometimes bitterly disagreed on issues. Nonetheless, their friendship withstood time and politics. In August 1908 Linky quickly agreed to be Churchill's best man. Over the years, Churchill repeatedly wrote to Linky with revealing nostalgia, humor, and candor, notably when Churchill lost h.
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