WARMLY INSCRIBED BY JAMES BASSETT

BASSETT, James. Harm's Way. Cleveland and New York: World, (1962). Octavo, original red cloth, original dust jacket. $800.

First edition, presentation/association copy of Bassett’s accaimed WWII novel, inscribed by him in the month of publication to fellow journalist and political consultant Herbert Baus, who led President Nixon’s successful 1960 California campaign, “November ‘62. For Herb Baus—Old friend, honored professional, and an author in his own right—with warmest regard, Jim Bassett.”

The first novel of respected journalist and political consultant James Bassett, Harm's Way is based on his WWII experience in the Pacific as a staff officer to Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey. Bassett's novel was adapted to the screen in the 1965 Oscar-nomintaed film by director Otto Preminger, starring John Wayne and Kirk Douglas. With "First Edition" on copyright page. Recipient Herbert Baus who, like Bassett, was a one-time journalist for the Los Angeles Times, was famous as "the political campaign manager who engineered President Nixon's victory in California in 1960… but in February 1974, Baus bluntly told the Watergate-beleaguered president: 'The time has come for you to bow out' (Los Angeles Times).

A fine presentation copy with a memorable association.