Signed by the author

Russell of Liverpool, Lord ~ The Scourge of the Swastika – A Short History of Nazi War Crimes : Signed By The Author In the Year Of Publication

First UK Printing : Cassell & Company Ltd, London: 1954

The First UK printing published by Cassell & Company Ltd, London in 1954. 8vo., black publisher’s cloth lettered in red to spine; together in the unclipped yellow wrapper (15/-net) printed in black and red; featuring 28 black and white photographs, some graphic; The BOOK is a little rubbed at the corners and bruised at spine ends; some light minor brown stains to the endpapers and mild spotting to the fore-edge; previous owners initials neatly inked to the half title; a Very Good+ copy in the Very Good- WRAPPER; seldom found at all, with some abrasion to the lower panel resulting in some loss of biographic blurb; chipped to ends of the folds and a little more to the head and foot of spine, with some larger chips extending along the spine edges (up to 2.5cm in length); one additional very small hole half way down spine; toned at the spine with internal tape reinforcement to the verso. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. First UK printing, first issue, signed (without dedication) by the author to the front endpaper in the year of publication. ​​Edward Frederick Langley Russell, 2nd Baron Russell of Liverpool (1895-1981), served in both World Wars, and in between developed a career in the Judge-Advocate office, serving in different capacities in the military justice sector. During WWII, he became Deputy Judge Advocate General to the British Army of the Rhine, and later was one of the legal advisers during a series of war-crimes proceedings, including both the Nuremberg trials and the Tokyo tribunal, for which he was honoured with a CBE. The Scourge of the Swastika was his first published work, and the result of his direct experiences with Nazi War criminals. Published two years after the end of the Nuremberg trials, the book gives a brief history of the crimes committed, and is accompanied by graphic photographs of charred bodies and mass execution. Highly controversial, it unsurprisingly faced wide condemnation. Russell was accused of profiting personally from his investigations, and was ordered to withdraw the title from publication entirely, although it did succeed in being published, here for the first time, on the 19th August 1954. One week before its release, Russell resigned from his position as Assistant Judge Advocate General. That same year, Lord Beaverbrook of The Daily Express published extracts under the heading "the book they tried to ban", and it became an instant bestseller. It was later translated into Yiddish in 1956. The Scourge of the Swastika remains a harrowing, but historically important work documenting the atrocities carried out during the Second World War. Extremely scarce with these attributes.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Very Good+
JACKET: Very Good-