Descrizione

2 vols., roy. 8vo., First Edition thus, with very numerous illustrations and maps (many coloured in outline) in the text and endpaper maps; cloth (red/green respectively), gilt backs, a near fine set in unclipped dustwrapper. Vol I: The First Battalion; Vol. II: The Second Battalion. Kipling undertook the history of the regiment in WWI following the death in action of his son John at the Battle of Loos whilst serving with the Second Battalion; a personal tragedy from which the author never fully recovered. After five and a half years of research ('done with agony and bloody sweat') the work was immediately recognised as both a military and a literary masterpiece. This much needed re-issue of the original edition of 1923 is augmented with a considerable number of previously unpublished photographs of places and events, together with a thoughtful foreword by the editor of the 'Kipling Journal'. Enser, p.66; White, p. 45 (both recording the original edition).