Buy this book on-line

GREGG, VICTOR with STROUD, RICK: : RIFLEMAN: A Front-Line Life

LONDON.BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING PLC.,2011.

ISBN 9781408813966.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,illustrated,1st edn. [Complete number line 10 - 1 descending.FINE/FINE. No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj. Bright,crisp,clean,matt,subject's sepia portrait photograph and other sepia photograph illustrated front of dw/dj,plus capitalised, glossy,black-lettered part-title and capitalised,glossy red-lettered sub-title, capitalised,glossy white-lettered subject+co-author's names,and black lettered reviews; a glossy,white spine/backstrip with thumbnail sepia photograph of regimental cap badge at its head,with similarly coloured+lettered part-title; capitalised,glossy,red-lettered authors' names and the publisher’s red illustrated colophon to foot of same,rear panel of dw/dj with subject's portrait photograph abd critics' green+red lettered reviews.Negligible shelf-wear to edges and corners – no nicks,tears or splits present.Top edges lightly toned,fore-edges slightly brighter and either without foxing/spotting; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound – no dog-ear reading creases to any pages’ corner tips – appears unread,apart from my own collation.Publisher’s generally clean,sharp-cornered,original paper-covered boards with bright,crisp,blocked,capitalised gilt lettering to spine/backstrip,a gild+white striped headband,and immaculate plain white endpapers. UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,x-xipp+4-273pp [paginated] includes co-author's Foreword,Pts 1-3 comprising 8,31 and 11 chapters and an Afterword respectively,16pp contemporary b/w biographical photographs in 1 block,between pp146/47,and to the rear,Acknowledgements and an Index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,a dedication,a Contents list/table,2pp b/w regional maps - Desert War N.Africa 1940-43 and Arnhem 17-26 September,1944 - the latter with regional map of trips behind the Iron Curtain to its reverse,individual Pts separator pages,and a Note on Authors to reverse of last page of the Index.                                            Visually the exterior appearance is more than acceptable and particularly internally,is in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation for a book of its 13 year-old age. It is only the minimal faults described that prevents a slightly higher grading.Despite that, it really is still an exemplary example for its cleanliness,brightness and lack of detracting faults.                                     On his 18th birthday,in 1937,Victor Gregg enlisted in the Rifle Brigade and began a life of adventure,experiencing the merciless struggle of WW2 from its commencement of hostilities in North Africa to its chaotic ending amid the ruins of Germany in 1945. Not long after the war began he was seconded to a small force led by Major 'Popski' Peniakoff, and later to the Long Range Desert Group - two units operating behind enemy lines that encouraged his natural maverick streak.The Battle of El Alamein found him back on the front line,where he took part in the legendary Snipe Action.In 1943 he volunteered to retrain for the Parachute Regiment,and the following year he was part of the vast armada of men and planes en route for Arnhem,where he was soon inthe thick of the bitterest fighting.Captured at the end of the battle,he twice attempted to escape and was sentenced to death for sabotaging a Dresden factory; he only survived because the Allies' infamous air raid blew apart the prison in which he was being held.Fleeing the doomed city,he encountered the advancing Red Army,and traded his skill as a mechanic for food and shelter. For this it was deemed by the British Army that he had been consorting with the enemy and he was not allowed to finish his army career - he had signed on for twenty-one years.                  Victor Gregg's fascinating story does not stop when the fighting is over.In the late fifties,by then a member of the Communist Party,his life took another dramatic turn when,at the instigation of British Intelligence,he was offered employment as a chaffeur to the chairman of the Moscow Narodny Bank.His new life,and later his new hobby of attending motorbike rallies behind the Iron Curtain,drew him into the shadowy world of Cold War espionage. Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas customers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded, after order's receipt and before the order's despatch, especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE.                                             ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

Bibliophile Bookbase for antiquarian books, maps and prints.