A Bridge Too Far.

RYAN, Cornelius.

Item Number: 124193

London: Hamish Hamilton, 1974.

First edition of Ryan’s account of Operation Market Garden, the failed Allied attempt to break through German lines at Arnhem by taking a series of bridges in the occupied Netherlands during World War II. Octavo, bound in full morocco with gilt titles to the spine, gilt vignette to the front panel, inner dentelles, original cartographic endpapers within marbled endpapers, illustrated, all edges gilt. Association copy, inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the half-title page, “To my friend and publisher Jamie Hamilton with respect and admiration, above all – my thanks, Cornelius Ryan 14/9/74.” The recipient, Jamie “Hamish” Hamilton, founded British publishing house Hamish Hamilton in 1931 which was responsible for publishing a number of notable American, English, and French authors including Raymond Chandler, J.D. Salinger, E.B. White, Truman Capote, Nancy Mitford, Alan Moorehead, and Jean-Paul Sartre. In near fine condition with light rubbing to the extremities. A fine association.

Ryan's bleak, fact-based account of the failed WWII Operation Market Garden mission, A Bridge Too Far was the first book to address the tactical mistakes made in planning the operation, which in previous popular accounts had been spun as a partial success. The book was adapted into the 1977 epic war film of the same name directed by Richard Attenborough and with a screenplay by William Goldman. The ensemble cast included Sean Connery, James Caan, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Robert Redford, Dirk Bogarde, Edward Fox, and Laurence Olivier.