THE LION AND THE UNICORN, SOCIALISM AND THE ENGLISH GENIUS. London: Secker and Warburg, 1941.

1st edition. Crown 8vo (19cmx12cm), [127], [2, blank] pp.

Complete with unclipped dust-jacket over publisher's beige cloth boards. There is darkening and minor staining to the dust-jacket, with slight loss to the tale of the jacket and a tear (3cm) to the right front side. The textblock is darkened on the edges and p35 has a crease in the upper right corner. Some pencil markings have been rubbed out on the free end paper. Very good condition in a good dust-jacket.

The first publication in the Searchlight Book series by Secker and Warburg: a series of wartime political essays by the publisher that was cut short due to paper supplied being destroyed and disrupted in the air raids of 1941-42. This series was edited by George Orwell and T.R. Fyvel in the hopes of providing a forward looking political vision for the British public during the dark times of the war. 

The publisher states these essays were to "serve as an arsenal for the manufacture of mental and spiritual weapons needed for the crusade against Nazism". In this essay, Orwell postulates a socialism that could mesh with the character and history of Britain, one that could bolster Britain through the war. 'This is a book for those who are neither ashamed of being Englishmen nor satisfied with England as it is now'. 

If you have any questions please feel free to ask!