"HOW WAR FEELS TO MEN EVERYWHERE": EXCEPTIONAL PRESENTATION/ASSOCIATION FIRST EDITION OF HERSEY'S INTO THE VALLEY, WARMLY INSCRIBED BY HIM IN THE YEAR OF PUBLICATION TO THE PT BOAT CAPTAIN FEATURED IN THE ACCOMPANYING ISSUE OF LIFE MAGAZINE THAT CONTAINS HERSEY’S ARTICLE, "PT SQUADRON IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC"

HERSEY, John. Into the Valley. A Skirmish of the Marines WITH: PT Squadron in the South Pacific. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1943; Life Magazine May 10, 1943. Octavo, original red cloth, original dust jacket; (Life) tall quarto, original pictorial self-wrappers, staple-bound as issued; pp. 74-87.

First edition of Pulitzer Prize-winner Hersey's acclaimed WWII reportage of Guadalcanal—"it might be held up alongside Crane’s Red Badge of Courage" (New York Times), an especially distinctive presentation/association inscribed by him in the year of publication to the PT boat captain featured in the first appearance in print of Hersey's article in the accompanying May 10, 1943 issue Life Magazine. Hersey's inscription in the book reads, "To B— S— with many thanks for all the help on your story—for the living of which I almost envy you. John Hersey May' 43."

John Hersey's second book, which reports the life of WWII soldiers in combat on Guadalcanal, earned praise on publication for bringing "home, as do few war stories, one of the hundreds of thousands of little episodes which make up this war… It might be held up alongside Crane's Red Badge of Courage" (New York Times). Within two years Hersey was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for best novel. Book with 15 full-page illustrations by Marine Corps Major Dickson. A much-condensed version of the book originally appeared in Life magazine. Accompanying May 10, 1943 issue of Life magazine containing first appearance in print of Hersey's article, PT Squadron in the South Pacific (pp. 74-87). This very memorable presentation/association copy is inscribed by Hersey to Lt. Robert Searles, captain of a PT boat in the first PT squadron "to see action in the South Pacific during the Battle of the Solomon Islands" (Naval Historical Collection). Lt. Searles is featured on the cover of the accompanying Life magazine, and is also one of the three PT skippers highlighted in Hersey's lengthy article, appearing in print for the first time, titled "Pt Squadron in the South Pacific." After WWII Robert Searles would return to his home in Minnesota, where he would serve in the state's House of Representatives from 1977-1982.

Magazine with rubbing, edge-wear to wrappers. A fine inscribed copy.