FIRST TRADE EDITION OF RETURN OF THE ENOLA GAY, SIGNED BY TIBBETS

(WORLD WAR II) TIBBETS, Paul W. Return of the Enola Gay. Columbus, Ohio: Mid Coast Marketing, 1998. Octavo, original black cloth, original dust jacket. $950.

First trade edition of Tibbets’ revised autobiography, highlighting his core role in piloting the famed aircraft, signed by the author at his frontispiece picture.

"In the only uses of nuclear weapons in war, and on the order of President Harry S. Truman, the American bomber Enola Gay attacked Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945… Americans derived competing truths from [the attack]. Depending on who was telling the story, it came to signify America's martial triumph and moral righteousness, its racism and technological fanaticism, its entry into an agonizing nuclear age, its fate if undefended, its threat to others if unrestrained" (ANB). The controversy surrounding the National Air and Space Museum's 1995 exhibit of the Enola Gay inspired pilot Paul W. Tibbets to write this revision of his 1989 book, Flight of the Enola Gay. An accurate first-hand account, including the true story of Major Claude Easterly's contribution to the mission, this copy is signed by Col. Tibbets. Illustrated with 23 pages of black-and-white photographs. Preceded by a limited edition of 1500 copies. Bookplate.

Book in fine condition, in a very nearly fine dust jacket.