"ABOUT A FEW PROMINENT MEN—GREAT, EVIL, STUPID, SILLY, WISE": FIRST EDITION OF CHURCHILL'S GREAT CONTEMPORARIES

CHURCHILL, Winston. Great Contemporaries. London: Thornton Butterworth, (1937). Octavo, modern three-quarter navy morocco, raised bands, spines gilt decorated with Churchill lion emblems, top edge gilt. $1250.

First edition of this collection of biographical sketches of some of the most influential men of the 20th century, illustrated with 21 photographic portraits, handsomely bound.

"This book is about mankind and about a few prominent men—great, evil, stupid, silly, wise… The book is also about Churchill as he sees himself, with the personalities which shaped his judgments and character… At this distance we see him absorbing those lessons of leadership for the moment when he was to become Prime Minister of a nation alone, at its most solemn hour" (Langworth, 177). Includes essays on George Bernard Shaw, Chamberlain, Lawrence of Arabia, Leon Trotsky, Adolf Hitler, Philip Snowden and King George V, among others. Cohen A105.1a. Woods A43(a). Langworth, 176-179.

A touch of faint foxing to title page. A handsome copy in fine condition.