L'armée des ombres

KESSEL (Joseph). L’Armée des ombres.
Algiers: Charlot, 1943.

8vo (187 × 117 mm). 280 pp. Half black morocco with corners, raised bands, gilt lettering and central gilt tool to spine; original wrappers preserved.

First edition of this landmark text.
Kessel, having taken refuge in England after the defeat of 1940, began writing articles for the newspaper France and collecting first-hand accounts from résistants. From these testimonies emerged L’Armée des ombres, the first major literary work devoted to the French Resistance, written and published while the outcome of the war remained uncertain.

The book appeared in 1943, the same year Kessel and his nephew Maurice Druon composed Le Chant des partisans, which became the anthem of the Resistance.

Small old tape repairs at page 8. Pages uniformly toned, as usual for this wartime production. A solid and appealing copy in a tasteful binding.