Adventure (1930, first edition, with important Great War inscription)

J E B Seely's wartime memoirs, this copy signed by Sir Lionel Fletcher to Général Vicomte de la Panouse

Author

Publisher

Printing Details

First edition, first printing. Hardback in dustwrapper. 23 × 15.5cm, [11] 326pp.

There is an interesting inscription to the front pastedown which reads "To Le Général Vicomte de la Panouse, in remembrance of strenuous times, Lionel Fletcher 18 2/30." The inscription connects two significant figures involved in the logistical and diplomatic planning for the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) immediately prior to and during the outbreak of World War I. General Louis, Vicomte de la Panouse (1863–1945) was a French cavalry officer who served as the French Military Attaché in London during the Great War. He was the vital conduit between the French War Office and the British War Department during mobilization. Sir Edward Lionel Fletcher (1876–1968) was a prominent British shipping expert and a manager of the famous White Star Line. In the years leading up to August 1914, Fletcher was secretly tasked by the British Government to reconnoiter the Channel ports (such as Boulogne and Le Havre) alongside French military staff to plan the complex logistical landings of the BEF. His work was so vital to the success of the mobilization that he was knighted for it in June 1915. Fletcher is mentioned in the book, pp140–141.

Adventure is the first volume of the personal and military memoirs of Major-General J.E.B. "Jack" Seely (later 1st Baron Mottistone). Beginning with his adventurous childhood, joining the army, service in the Boer War, his move to government (he was a close ally of Winston Churchill), his tenure as Secretary of State for War (1912–1914) from which he had to resign over the Curragh Mutiny, through to the core of the book which is his serving in the Great War on the Western Front where he was appointed Brigadier-General of the Canadian Cavalry Brigade—a diverse unit composed of frontier ranchers, Mounties, and clerks. He provides first-hand accounts of brutal trench warfare, being gassed while rescuing his men, and leading one of the last major, desperate cavalry charges in modern military history at Moreuil Wood in March 1918 to halt the German Spring Offensive.

Condition

The book itself is in good condition, with light spotted foxing throughout but remaining in strong readable condition. The dustwrapper is only fair with loss to the head of the spine and front panel, and heavy foxing marking. However it is now within a protective wrapper and the inscription is clear.