Savrola: A Tale of the Revolution in Laurania, by Winston S. Churchill. Random House, New York, 1956 - stated FIRST PRINTING on the copyright page, the new American edition with a new foreword by the author. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 56-6344. ISBN: none - pre-ISBN. This is Sir Winston's first and only novel, written shortly after his graduation from Sandhurst while he was serving in India with the IVth (Queen's Own) Hussars, and inscribed to the officers of that regiment. In his foreword Churchill writes: "Emerson said, 'Never read any book that is not a year old.' I can at least give reassurance on this point, since SAVROLA first appeared in print in Macmillan's Magazine in 1897 when I was twenty-three." The novel deals with a revolution in the mythical republic of Laurania and is remarkable for its prophecy of totalitarian patterns then many years in the future. Sir Compton Mackenzie wrote that "not all the artificiality of Ruritanian romance can deprive this book of authentic vitality when it is read with the knowledge of what one day its author would become. The dreams of a great man are perdurable." Robert Lewis Taylor called Churchill's own summary of the novel - a story tracing "the fortunes of a liberal leader who overthrew an arbitrary government only to be swallowed up by a socialist revolution" - one of the most dazzling pieces of unconscious personal prophecy on record. Jacket design by Hollis Holland; front-of-jacket photograph copyrighted by Philippe Halsman.

Condition: GOOD. Handsome two-tone binding in navy and orange cloth, with gilt lettering to the front board and a gilt Greek-key design and title to the spine; boards clean and bright, binding tight and square. Text clean and unmarked throughout - no underlining, highlighting, or margin writing. In the original pictorial dust jacket, housed in a removable mylar (Brodart) protector. The jacket is NOT price-clipped and retains the printed $3.50 flap price. Honest defects: chipping and creasing at the head of the jacket spine, with light nicks and rubbing along the jacket edges; light soiling to the jacket panels; toning along the top edge of the text block; slight fraying to the cloth at the spine ends.

Ships promptly and boxed via USPS Media Mail. Please see photos - they form part of the description.