Description
The first edition of Thunder Out Of China, signed by Theodore H. White and Annalee Jacoby, the first book from Theodore H. White.
Octavo, xvi, 331pp, [1]. Blue cloth, title stamped in copper gilt on the spine. Stated “First Edition” on the copyright page. Illustrated endpapers. A few pencil notes and underlined passages. Rubbing along lower edge of boards. Solid text bock. In the publisher’s dust jacket, price clipped, light toning along margins of rear panel, a near fine example. Signed opposite the title page: “Hello again / Annalee Jacoby / Theodore H. White.”
Thunder Out of China is a first-person account of China during World War II, focusing on the Sino-Japanese conflict and the collapse of Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government. It provided one of the first in-depth American perspectives on the political corruption, military disarray, and popular suffering that plagued China in the 1930s and 1940s. It was both widely read and influential, shaping U.S. public opinion about China’s internal struggles and helping to explain the eventual Communist victory in 1949.
