LEWIS, Wyndham ~ Count your Dead: They are Alive! or A New War in the Making.

FIRST UK PRINTING. Lovat Dickson Limited, London: 1937

8vo., pale yellow cloth lettered in blue to upper cover and spine; witth decorative device in rectangular border to upper cover; upper edge stained blue; together in the unclipped pictorial dustwrapper featuring the same stylised design of two figures fighting, to both upper panel and spine; also replicated as a title vignette; THE BOOK near-fine, slight spotting to boards, and the odd mark to margins of pages; the DUSTWRAPPER good, retaining much brightness, but split along spine at the upper panel, and chipped to spine ends/ends of folds; spine and folds darkened. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. First UK edition, first printing. A profound and witty polemical work, in which Lewis criticises the foreign policy of Stanley Baldwin and Anthony Eden, and argues that the only beneficiaries of the looming war will be the Soviet Union. Urging the government to consider the inevitable effects of their decisions, he argues for a re-examination of principles in light of the “castor oil” being administered to European politics by fascism — castor oil being for Lewis a metaphor for political “truth.” (Lafferty). Lewis had served as a a second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery during WWI, and after returning to the UK his attentions increasingly turned from art and works of fictional to political tracts. Influenced strongly by his experiences, the present title represents one of five anti-war books which he published during the 1930s, beginning with 'Hitler' in 1931, a hugely controversial and polarising text which appeared to present the dictator "man of peace". In 'Count Your Dead', he further drew criticism when he excused the actions of General Franco in the Spanish Civil War as necessary to resist communism. Later he amended his views significantly and published the satirical 'The Jews, Are they Human?' in a response to anti-Semitic views. 'The Hitler Cult' later cemented his disdain for the German leader. As he wrote in 'Blasting and Bombardiering', published in the same year as this present title, "'There is for me no good war and bad war. There is only bad war." Lewis later wrote in his autobiography that he hoped "this group of books against war can be written off as futile performances - ill-judged, redundant, harmful of course to me personally, and of no value to anybody else". Unfortunately, he was wrong, and after the war which followed this book remained one of his most sought-after and well-read titles within his body of works. Very scarce with the wrapper in such collectible condition.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Near Fine
JACKET: Good