Alexander of Tunis, Field-Marshal Earl — The Alexander Memoirs 1940–1945 — First UK Edition, 1962

Author: Field-Marshal Earl Alexander of Tunis
Editor: John North
Title: The Alexander Memoirs 1940–1945
Publisher: Cassell, London
Date: 1962
Edition: First UK Edition, First Impression
Size: Octavo
Pagination: xiv, 210 pp.
Illustrations: Photographic plates, maps and battle plans
Stock Code: 004184
Location: Bookroom

First UK edition, first impression, of the wartime memoirs of Field-Marshal Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis (1891–1969), one of Britain’s most senior and distinguished commanders of the Second World War. Edited by John North, the volume covers Alexander’s campaigns from 1940 to 1945 and is illustrated with photographic plates, maps and battle plans. Institutional cataloguing confirms the 1962 Cassell first edition at xiv, 210 pages, with plates, portraits and maps.

Alexander had an unusually broad wartime command career. A veteran of the First World War, he commanded the 1st Division in France in 1940, subsequently held senior commands in Burma, and in 1942 was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Middle East. He later commanded 18th Army Group in Tunisia, where the Axis forces in North Africa were finally defeated, before becoming Deputy Supreme Allied Commander and subsequently Supreme Allied Commander in the Mediterranean, overseeing the Allied campaigns in Sicily and Italy. His elevation as Earl Alexander of Tunis reflected the particular importance attached to his role in the North African victory.

The memoirs therefore provide a first-hand account from the very highest level of Allied command. They encompass the retreat from France, operations in Burma, the Middle East command, the North African campaign, Tunisia, Sicily and the long Italian campaign. Unlike many operational histories written retrospectively by historians, Alexander’s account records the perspective of a commander who participated directly in strategic decision-making alongside figures including Churchill, Eisenhower, Montgomery and other senior Allied leaders. For collectors of Second World War command memoirs, the book forms an important companion to the published accounts of Montgomery, Auchinleck, Brooke and other senior officers.

The book also has particular relevance to the study of the Mediterranean theatre. Alexander occupied the unusual position of commanding large multinational Allied formations over an extended period and had to coordinate British, Commonwealth, American and other forces during some of the most complex combined operations of the war. His memoirs are consequently valuable not only for their narrative of individual campaigns but also for their insight into coalition command, high-level strategy and the conduct of operations across North Africa and Italy.

The present copy is particularly attractive. The binding is nice and tight, with the publisher’s cloth bright and clean, and the pages generally nice and clean. The original dustwrapper is well preserved: near fine, with only very slight fading to the spine and minimal evidence of handling aside from a small scuff to the front panel. The striking wrapper combines bold typographic design to the front panel with a large monochrome photographic portrait of Alexander to the rear.

Now housed in an easily removable clear acetate sleeve for protection.

Fine in a very near fine, very slightly spine-faded original dustwrapper.

A notably fresh first edition of an important primary account by one of Britain’s principal Second World War commanders, particularly significant for Alexander’s leadership in North Africa, Tunisia, Sicily and Italy.

Stock code: 004184. Location: Bookroom.

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