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HUMBERT, AGNES: : Resistance: Memoirs of Occupied France

LONDON.BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING PLC.,2008.

ISBN 9780747595977.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,illustrated,1st edn.[Complete number line 10 - 1 descending.First published in Paris in 1946,under the title of 'Notre Guerre' ['Our War').] FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,matt b/w photographic illustrated front panel of dw/dj with black+gilt lettering; with negligible shelf-wear to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present.Top+fore-edges lightly toned but still bright and clean - no foxing/spotting or any other blemishes; contents bright,tight, clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners,appears unread apart from my collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,original plain cream paper-covered boards with bright,crisp, blocked gilt letters to spine/backstrip,a gold+ white striped headband,and immaculate b/w facsimile typewritten document (underground newspaper) illustrated endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,illustrated,1st edn,viii-xpp+2-370pp [paginated] includes Illustrations list/table,a Preface by William Boyd,10 chapters and an Afterword,8pp contemporary b/w auto+biographical photographs in 1 block between pp180/1,an Appendix (documents on the Resistance), Translator's Notes,a Bibliography and an Index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,a Contents list/table with translator's Acknowledgements to its reverse,a dedication/memoriam of Comrades and to the rear of the book as last pages: a Note on the author,a Note on the translator and a note on the type. As the grip of the German Occupation tightened on Paris in the summer of 1940,Agnes Humbert,a respected art historian,took a leap of blind faith and reckless courage.With a handful of her distinguished colleagues at the Musee de l'Homme in Paris,she helped to form one of the first organized groups of the French Resistance.The unlikely but highly effective Musee de l'Homme network was also to earn a tragic place in history. In 1941 many of its members,including its charismatic leader Boris Vilde and Agnes herself,were betrayed to the Gestapo and imprisoned.Seven of the men were condemned to death and executed by firing squad; the women were deported to Germany as slave workers. These are the events described with electrifying immediacy by Agnes Humbert in her secret journal,first published in France in 1946 and never before translated into English.With self-deprecating humour and acerbic intelligence,she offers a uniquely personal and candid perspective on this dark and dramatic period,while the striking images that draw her artist's eye add a graphic,cinematic intensity to her diary entries.Refusing,even in the grimmest days,to surrender her compassion, humanity or talent for spotting the absurd,she writes with a deft touch and sardonic wit that belie the palpable depth of her conviction and outrage.Written with all the immediacy of events just lived,'Resistance' stands today as a testament to one woman's indomitable spirit,and as an eloquent tribute to the sacrifice and courage of her comrades who did not survive. Written in the form of a journal,and this is what gives the book its vivid immediacy and incomparable verve.Written in the present tense, it benefits hugely from it's tone of voice (superbly captured and rendered in English by Barbara Mellor's translation).Living through Agnes Humbet's excitement,danger,terror and eventual ordeal as if we were by her side: her candour,her recall,her eye for detail and her incredibly tenacious sense of humour are conveyed with a freshness that a more considered memoir,adulterated by post-war hindsight, could not have provided. She bears devastating witness to her time: here is an insider's account of the germination of the French Resistance in all its fascinating detail - and all the more rare for being written by a woman.But her journal goes further than this: many fine memorable and enduring books have been written about war and human conflict by eyewitnesses and combatants,winners and losers,but most of them stay in the field of harrowing testimony,of personal history,of documented fact.Very few indeed move beyond this and into the realm of literature - Agnes Hubert's 'Resistance.' can now join that elite few. Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stock(s') shipping quotes are adjusted for any refunds AFTER receipt of order and BEFORE the despatch of the order,especially if the item is offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard US AIRMAIL to these destinations can now,in some cases,cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,illustrated,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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