Signed by Laurie Lee

Lee, Laurie ~ Land at War. The Official Story of British Farming 1939-1944 : Signed by Laurie Lee

First UK Printing : His Majesty’s Stationery Office, London : 1945

4to., printed green and black photographic wraps, showing a wrap-around image of a British Farm; proliferated throughout with black and white photographs; covers slightly scuffed at the edges and along spine; staples lightly rusted, and upper slightly loose; Internally clean; a Very Good++ or better copy. Protected in a removable Mylar archival cover. First edition, signed by Laurie Lee to the title page, with printed sheet regarding the Hay Festival 1995, loosely inserted. Lee would have been 81 years old at the time of his talk at the festival, and the previous owner arranged to meet the author there to have this book signed. Land at War was published at the end of World War II to illustrate and explain the crucial part played by Britain's farms and farmers in the war effort, with photographs throughout demonstrating the resilience​,​resourcefulness and determination of the farm workers shown in the face of hardship. Pictured and described here are the return of the plough, used day and night; attempts to reclaim previously derelict ground for crops; and how crops were grown in some of the hardier parts of the country, such as Scotland and Ulster. Some 300,000 farms helped to sustain the Nation during the years of 1939-45, and the ministry further gives a nod to the role of women in replacing the 98,000 skilled men lost. “No weapon ever invented is more deadly than hunger”, the work begins, “it can spike guns, destroy courage, and break the will of the most resolute peoples. The finest armies in the world, courageous enough in the face of bombs or bullets, can be reduced by it to helplessness and surrender”. This publication is attributed to Laurie Lee (S. Oliver-Jones A2). Scarce with such attributes.

BINDING: Softcover
CONDITION: Very Good++