210 pp + ads, 8vo (8 3/8" H), hard cover in dust jacket. 8 b&w plates by Edward Ardizzone. "The first part...is made up of sketches of the B.E.F. which were published in Paris each week from the beginning of November (1939). I had been asked by t he Army Council to acompany the British forces as French official eye-witness. I was delighted to have the opportunity of joining my old friends again. We were full of hope. I spent at G.H.Q., and with the armies, several happy months. Whe n I r e ad what I wrote then, in perfect good faith, I wonder why and how we did not realize at once that our numbers were too small, our equipment scanty, our defence inadequate. As a matter of fact, we did realize it from time to time, but ther e w as a co nspiracy of optimism...If these sketches are now still worth reading, it will be mainly because of their significant omissions. The second part of this book is a diary of The Thirty Days War. Most of it was written, not for publicatio n, b ut f or my self. It is not perhaps the whole truth, but all of its true - too terribly true." Light browning to endpapers, moderate rubbing to cloth, light fading to top/bottom edges of spine, a few tiny soiling specks on boards. Dust jack et is wor n wit h a few small tears and chips, is clipped at all flap corners, heavy edge wear, browning, light soiling, old tape repairs on inside surface, now in a mylar sleeve. G/Poor

BRITISH EXPEDITIONARY FORCE FRANCE THIRTY DAYS EDWARD ARDIZZONE SAPPERS