Les Mémoires de P. Reynaud et la Beligque: Un appel à W. Churchill et au Gl de Gaulle. [The Memoirs of P. Reynaud and Belgium: A Call to W. Churchill and to Gl de Gaulle].

WULLUS-RUDIGER, J. [Winston S. Churchill].

$2,250.00

Item Number: 145458

Brussels: Établissements Généraux D'Imprimerie, 1946.

Rare first edition of this memoir of Belgium and Prime Minister of France, Paul Reynaud. Octavo, original wrappers. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper to Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill, “Pour Monsieur Winston S. Churchill, en témoignage de profond respect, Wullus-Rudiger, Bruxelles, le 30 mars 1946. [For Mr. Winston S. Churchill, as a testimony of deep respect, Wullus-Rudiger, Brussels, March 30, 1946.]” From the library of Winston S. Churchill. In very good condition with some toning. An exceptional association.

J. Wullus-Rudiger, a member of the pre-war Belgian government, wrote a number of books on the deteriorating situation in Europe, and at the outbreak of war served under the Belgian Minister of National Defence, Henri Denis. This particular work recounts the life of Paul Reynaud, Prime Minister of France during World War II. He persistently refused to support an armistice with Germany and unsuccessfully attempted to save France from German occupation, resigning on the 16th of June, 1940. After unsuccessfully attempting to flee France, he was arrested by Philippe Petain's administration. Surrendering to German custody in 1942, he was imprisoned in Germany and later Austria until liberation in 1945, where he was released after the Battle of Itter Castle in which one of the leaders, German Major Josef Gangl, declared a hero by the Austrian resistance, took a sniper's bullet to save him. Elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1946, Reynaud became a prominent figure again in French political life, serving in several cabinet positions.