L. W. Currey, Inc.

Wright, S[ydney] Fowler. THE WAR OF 1938. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, [1936]. Octavo, pp. [1-8] 1-308 [309-312: blank] [note: first and last two leaves are blanks], original tan cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black and red, top edge stained red, fore-edge untrimmed, bottom edge rough-trimmed. First U.S. edition. Published in Britain as PRELUDE IN PRAGUE: A STORY OF THE WAR OF 1938 (1935). The first book of a future war trilogy, followed by FOUR DAYS WAR (1936) and MEGIDDO'S RIDGE (1937). PRELUDE IN PRAGUE begins prophetically with the proposition that Germany would embark on the road to war by manufacturing an excuse to invade Czechoslovakia in order to reclaim part of her 'traditional territory.' It rapidly develops, though, into a horror story which put the actual events of 1938 (and even those of 1939) in the shade. The final chapters present a clinically horrific catalogue of atrocities, imagining the effects of devastating aerial bombing and the use of a new chemical weapon -- a 'freezing gas.' PRELUDE IN PRAGUE ends with the delivery of a German ultimatum to Britain, and its sequel, FOUR DAYS WAR (1936), takes up the story with its rejection." - Stableford, Scientific Romance in Britain 1890-1950, p. 195. Anatomy of Wonder (1987) 2-143; (1995) 2-153; and (2004) II-1292. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 832. Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 69. Clarke, Voices Prophesying War: Future Wars 1763-3749 (1992), p. 240. Gerber, Utopian Fantasy (1973), p. 153. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p.236 (describing the British edition). Bleiler (1978), p. 213. Reginald 1566A. Hint of tanning to spine panel, minor dust soiling to front and rear panels, still a bright, tight, very good copy with no binding wear. An attractive copy. (#90042).

Price: $45.00