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Rare signed first impression of the true first edition. ***Signed and dated by the author on the title-page in blue biro pen: 'Peter Churchill, 6/11/54.' ***Very good in blue cloth-covered boards with gilt titles to the spine. The gilt is slightly oxidised. The boards are clean and unmarked, but are slightly faded at the edges. Bottom of spine slightly creased. No reading lean. Spine tight. Edges of page block slightly foxed but not affecting the interior pages. Pages clean. With a contemporary gift inscription to the front free endpaper. ***In a very good buff-coloured printed dustwrapper, which has not been price-clipped, retaining the original publisher's printed price of 12/6 net. The dustwrapper is virtually complete, with just very slight loss at the top and tail of the spine. Dustwrapper slightly rubbed and marked (being a light buff background). No chips, creases or tears. Red titles to the spine just very slightly faded. Dustwrapper bright. ***251 pages. 200mm x 144mm. ***'"Of Their Own Choice" and "Duel of Wits" told the story of his four war missions in France in the Resistance, culminating in his capture along with Odette in April, 1943. "The Spirit in the Cage" opens with their incarceration in the prison of Fresnes, where the nightmare of solitary confinement was mitigated for Peter Churchill by occasional meetings with Odette, news of her, and ingeniously devised communication with his fellow-prisoners. ***For the inmates of Fresnes, resignation, hope and despair followed each other round, like the seasons, in a regular cycle. Behind these bars, a gift of seventy-two Red Cross biscuits constituted a giant feast, a book all to oneself a consolation beyond measure. No one could have been more unfitted for existence in captivity than Peter Churchill; Odette, who knew this, found wonderful ways in which to help him. His record of Fresnes is not only his own story, but the story of Odette seen through his eyes. ***Odette was in Fresnes still when Peter Churchill was moved to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, to quarters so civilised he could hardly believe they were to be the end of his mysterious journeyings. The unaccustomed sight of glorious sky through his large windows was almost too much, his first walk in the empty compound as large a step towards freedom as he felt he could manage in one stride. Here he enjoyed the companionship of notable Russians, Poles and Italians, later joined by a British Major and three airmen from Sagan, born escapers who lived up to their reputation by a highly exciting attempt at the near-impossible. ***Flossenburg Concentration Camp, his next place of confinement, brought Peter Churchill face to face with the full horror of Nazi captivity. The end of the war was obviously near now, but for very many of the prisoners it would clearly come too late. ***The last and most tense move was to Italy in a convoy which finally included 132 "Prominenten" of twenty-two nationalities: Alexander Papagos, Commander-in-Chief of the Greek Army, Pastor Martin Niemoller, Colonel Ferraro of the Italian partisans, General Garibaldi, grandson of the famous Liberator of Italy, masterful Colonel von Bonin, the gallant Baron von Flugge and many more. The S.S guards made no secret of their hatred for these hostages. ***Unlike the author's two earlier books, this is written in the first person singular, which brings home with almost painful intensity his adventures---' (Quote taken from the front flap of the dustwrapper). ***First impression of the true first edition, complete in its original dustwrapper - signed and dated by the author in the year of publication. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.
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