Description
“…with the hope that she will not find this book, by an old solider, a complete bore. With best wishes, Dwight D. Eisenhower.”
First edition of Crusade in Europe by Dwight D. Eisenhower, with a great inscription to the daughter of William E. Robinson; Eisenhower’s longtime friend who persuaded him to write this book.
Octavo, xiv, [2], 559pp. Publisher’s tan cloth, title printed on spine. Stated “first edition” on copyright page, noting that it follows the limited edition, which was published the same year. Illustrated endpapers. Solid text block, a few points of soiling within the text block. In the publisher’s dust jacket, $5.00 on front flap, shelf wear to covers, rubbing to heel of spine, light foxing to verso, solid hinges and bright illustrations.
Inscribed on the dedication page: “For Wilma Robinson – with the hope that she will not find this book, by an old solider, a complete bore. With best wishes, Dwight D. Eisenhower.”
This copy is inscribed to Wilma, the daughter of William E. Robinson, a newspaper executive with the New York Herald Tribune, and President of Coca-Cola, Inc., from 1954-1961. General Eisenhower met Robinson in 1944 in Europe, where they began a close friendship that would last until their deaths in 1969. Shortly after the war, Robinson persuaded Eisenhower to write this memoir, Crusade in Europe, and made arrangements for its publication in 1948. Shortly after the publication of this book, Robinson arranged Eisenhower’s first trip to Augusta National Golf Club.
As an executive at the Herald Tribune, Robinson prevailed upon the owner, Helen Rogers Reid, to have the newspaper support the presidential candidacy of General Eisenhower, prior to his nomination in 1952. Robinson remained a trusted friend of Eisenhower throughout his presidency, one of the few friends who did not seek personal or political gain from being close to the president. The recipient of this copy, Wilma Ellen Robinson Ewert (1931-2019) was a graduate of Syracuse University and the only daughter of Mr. Robinson.
