Chapter: Books By Churchill

Malakand Field Force
(1898)
and
Savrola
(1900)

Churchill’s first book, The Malakand Field Force 1897, and only novel, Savrola, were published, respectively, in 1898 and 1900 by Longmans, Green and Company, London. Shown here is the matched pair of 1st Colonial editions with pictorial front hardcover; 2,796 copies of this Malakand edition and 1,500 copies of this Savrola edition were published. Today, the two Colonial editions are in as much demand as the regular "home" editions of each. Both the "home" and Colonial editions were published simultaneously.

My African Journey
(1908-1909)

As Undersecretary of State for the Colonies answerable to Lord Elgin, Churchill was sent on a tour of the African Colonies in 1907. Churchill took advantage of the opportunity to record his travels, eventually reporting his experiences in My African Journey, published in 1908 by Hodder & Stoughton, London; 12,500 copies, featuring a pictorial front hardcover, were sold. In 1909, a colorful soft cover copy was published, of which 20,000 were sold. Today, both versions are in high demand, and together make an attractive pair.

Marlborough
His Life and Times
1st USA Edition
Six Volumes
(1933-1938)

Churchill’s biography of his famous ancestor, Marlborough, His Life and Times, was more than a half dozen years in the writing and was published in the years 1933-1938. This publication, represented as four volumes in the 1st UK edition and as six volumes in the 1st US edition (Scribners and Sons, New York), is not inexpensive to acquire in original dust jackets. The US edition in blue and gold dust jackets (shown here) is more attractive than its UK counterpart.

The World Crisis
2nd USA Edition
(1963-1964)

Churchill’s five volumes in six parts covering the Great War or First World War is entitled The World Crisis. The 1st edition (US and UK) was published in the years 1923-1931 and is near impossible to obtain, let alone afford, in original dust jackets; however, the jacketed 2nd US edition (pictured here) published by Scribners and Sons, New York, in 1963-1964 is not uncommon, is affordable, and has the added perk of being the first illustrated edition.

The Second World War
Chartwell Trade Edition
(1983)

One of the nicest of all the editions of Churchill’s World War II memoirs, The Second World War, is the 1983, six volumes, American Chartwell edition published by Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. This set is quarter bound in leather, and each volume has a reproduced picture of Churchill’s painting of Chartwell placed on the front board. The front and rear endpapers in each volume depict maps of the geographical locations of battle addressed in each volume. The shortcoming to this set is that the text is an offprint of the 1st US edition and, as such, has none of the corrections and changes Churchill made that appear in the 1st UK edition (1948-1954). Only 200 copies were issued for the US Chartwell trade edition (pictured here), whereas the publisher issued far more as a Book-of-the-Month Club (BMOC) edition. The trade edition has yellow-stained top page edges; the BOMC edition rust-colored top page edges. Hence, the trade edition is the more rare, more highly collectible, and is more expensive.