STEINBECK, John — Once There Was a War

New York: The Viking Press, 1958. Steinbeck as War Correspondent Dispatches from the Front - Human, Immediate, and Unvarnished STEINBECK, John. Once There Was a War. New York: The Viking Press, 1958. First edition, first issue. Octavo (8 3/8 x 5 5/8 inches; 213 x 143 mm.). xxii, [1-2], 3-233, [1, blank] pp. Publisher's quarter yellow linen over brown boards, spine lettered in red. Original color pictorial dust jacket with just the slightest rubbing at the foot of the spine. A near fine copy in a near fine dust jacket. A compelling collection of Steinbeck's World War II dispatches, originally written for the New York Herald Tribune during his time as a war correspondent in 1943. Eschewing conventional battlefield reportage, Steinbeck focuses instead on the daily lives of soldiers - capturing moments of boredom, humor, fear, and quiet endurance with remarkable immediacy and empathy. These pieces, drawn from Steinbeck's experiences in England, North Africa, and Italy, reveal a deeply human perspective on war, emphasizing the individuality of the common soldier rather than the abstractions of strategy or politics. The result is a work of enduring power - part journalism, part literature - standing alongside the finest war writing of the twentieth century. Goldstone & Payne A39a. .