First edition, first impression. 224pp. Crimson cloth-covered boards with gilt lettering on the spine. Top edge sprayed blue. 8vo. Cloth slightly pushed and faded at spine ends. Internally neat, clean, bright and tight. In its original paper, pictorial dust wrapper. Dust wapper a little rubbed on corners and spine ends, gently bumped along extreme upper edge, slight shelf wear. Dust wrapper now protected in an archival-quality Mylar wrapper fitted without the use of tape or adhesives.
In dedicating The Sixth Column to 'My brother Ian', Peter Fleming became the first to dedicate a novel to his younger brother and creator of James Bond, Ian Fleming. Widely considered to be influential in shaping James Bond and the first Bond novel, Casino Royale, in particular. A spy thriller, The Sixth Column's central character is a thriller writer who creates a protagonist similar to Bond, and the novel draws attention to the UK's need for a swaggering and fearless hero. Ian Fleming set about writing Casino Royale jsut a few months after The Sixth Column was published.
