John Hersey. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1944. Stated first edition. Dust Jacket: Very Good+ An unclipped jacket with $2.50 price still intact. Jacket design by John Salter. Small piece missing on spine. Wrapped in a clear, protective cover. Hardcover: Very Good+ Previous owner signature on flyleaf, otherwise no writing or markings in the book, 269 pp. Grey cloth with black lettering and red design. Some staining on front/back inside covers. A solid book.
This was Hersey's first novel which won the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The novel was the basis of Paul Osborn's 1944 Broadway play starring Fredric March. A film version of the novel starred John Hodiak (1945).
The story is about an Italian-American soldier in World War II who wins the love and admiration of the local townspeople when he searches for a replacement for the 700-year-old town bell that had been melted down for bullets by the fascists.
