Paperback Cover Cavalcade 5

Today's Paperback Cover Cavalcade concentrates on Anthologies.

Butcher's Dozen by the Crime Writers Association (Digit R455, 1961)

This is the first anthology by members of the Crime Writers Association and all kinds of stories are to be found in it.
__The selection has been made by three members of the C.W.A., who are also contributors, to cover the widest possible range of styles and to cater for all tastes, and also to show the versatility and ingenuity of the modern crime writer. The editors have contributed an introduction explaining their aims, which also contains some original comments on crime writing in general.

• 5 * Bell, Josephine, Gilbert Michael & Symons, Julian * Introduction
• 7 * Alan, Marjorie * Portrait of Eleanor * r/p (D. C. Thomson)
• 23 * Bell, Josephine * The Thimble River Mystery * Evening Standard,
• 34 * Fitt, Mary * A Death in the Black-Out * pl * (originally broadcast on the BBC)
• 48 * Gilbert, Michael * Money is Honey
• 63 * Green, Janet * The Tallest Man in the World
• 82 * Kennington, Alan * Remote Control * Esquire,
• 85 * King, Frank * Strange Journey * Britannia & Eve,
• 93 * Morland, Nigel * He Got What She Wanted * r/p (P. J. Coster Inc.)
• 103 * Newman, Bernard * Death at the Wicket
• 108 * Proctor, Maurice * Diamonds for the Million * Collier's Magazine,
• 119 * Strong, L. A. G. * Rubber Gloves * Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine,
• 125 * Stuart, Vivian * The Killer
• 129 * Symons, Julian * The Dupe
• 139 * Vickers, Roy * Dinner for Two * Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Jan 1949
• 151 * Willa, Cecil M. * The Lost Village

The three editors mentioned were Josephine Bell, Michael Gilbert and Julian Symons. Originally published by William Heinemann in 1956.

Secret Agents edited by Kurt Singer (Digit R536, Oct 1961)

This exciting books tells of courage against Nazism, Communism, and other terrible forces. Some stories concern ordinary men and women, strange situations that might unexpectedly confront any one of us. Others tell of secret agents who made international headlines, such as the exclusive report on Francis G. Powers, pilot of the U-2 shot down by the Russians.
__Every page glows with the kind of courage described by the late Ernest Hemingway, winner of the Nobel and Pulitzer prizes.

• 5 * Valtin, Jan * The Spy School in Leningrad
• 21 * Ambler, Eric * Belgrade, 1926
• 42 * Tytell, Martin * The $7,500 Typewriter I Built For Algeria
• 62 * Molenkev, Serge (as told to Kurt Singer) * I Was a Red Spy in Korea
• 71 * Buck, Pearl S. * A Man's Foes
• 100 * Conrad, Joseph * The Informer
• 125 * Wolff, Victoria * Guilty Without Trial
• 147 * Singer, Kurt * Francis G. Powers: Modern Space Spy
• 155 * Hemingway, Ernest * The Secret Agent's Badge of Courage

The original US edition by Belmont Books was published under the title The Secret Agent's Badge of Courage in 1961. See below for some comments on the origin of the book. Kurt Singer (1911-2005) was originally born Kurt Deutsch in Austria; he escaped the rise of the Nazis in Germany in 1933 by fleeing to Sweden and subsequently, in 1940, went to America where he became a naturalised citizen in 1951. He wrote dozens of books on spies and espionage, biographies of Charles Laughton, Danny Kaye and Ernest Hemingway and edited 20 or so anthologies of horror stories.

The World's Greatest Spy Stories edited by Kurt Singer (Digit R559, 1962)

The Israeli Secret Service was willing to call the chapter closed and to admit they were shadow-boxing.
__Tuvia Friedman was not convinced. With the acuteness of a bloodhound, he continued his search. The finances came from his wife, his doctor, friends, acquaintances, who believed a smoke screen was protecting Eichmann.
__"Eichmann is alive," Friedman said. "I know it!"
__The greatest espionage stories of all time, both fact and fiction, have been collected in this new paperback edition. Here are tales of detection, high adventure, and sudden violence. All are masterpieces.

• 5 * Maugham, W. Somerset * The Traitor
• 47 * Mueller, Edwin * The Man Who Did Business With Himmler
• 54 * Bruckberger, R. L. * Death of a Collaborationist
• 63 * Singer, Kurt * Eichmann: The Hunter and the Hunted
• 78 * Von Rintelen, Franz * The Dark Invader
• 114 * Wallace, Edgar * Code No. 2
• 132 * Lawrence, T. E. * Blowing Up A Train
• 143 * Anon. [?Singer, Kurt] * The Frogman

Published in the USA by Belmont Books according to the copyright page, but the book actually dates back to 1954 when it was published as The World's Best Spy Stories in the US by Wilfred Funk and in the UK as The World's Greatest Spy Stories by W. H. Allen. The hardcover edition (US) had 342 pages, so it is possible this is an abridged version, the second half made up from the contents of Secret Agents (above).

They Got Back. The best escape stories from the "RAF Flying Review" (Digit R733, Jul 1963)

These are the authentic escape-stories of R.A.F. aces of the last war who achieved the seemingly impossible—they got back from behind enemy lines. From Germany, from the desert, from the freezing wastes of the Arctic, they made their break for freedom, often after suffering torture in the hands of the enemy.
__These are thrilling, legendary stories of epic courage and determination, of men who would never admit defeat.

• 9 * Clifton, Paul * Escape from Siam
• 23 * Young, 'Scottie' (as told to Gordon Thomas) * Missing—Believed Killed
  
• 34 * McSweyn, A. F. (as told to Paul Clifton) * Escape!
• 65 * Hunt, Leslie * Escape to Death
  
• 76 * Hunt, Leslie * Desert Flight
• 84 * Clarke, D. H. * Desert Rescue
  
• 94 * Hunt, Leslie * Window to Freedom
• 105 * Wharton, Bill * We Die Tonight
• 119 * Norris, Geoffrey * Pimpernels of the Air
• 148 * Feast, A. M. * They Captured Their Captors

A reprint anthology (originally published by Herbert Jenkins in 1961). Of the authors, I recognise Bill Wharton as a regular contributor of war and adventure features to men's magazines, Gordon Thomas as a thriller writer and Donald Henderson Clarke as an American novelist whose work dates back to the 1930s. Leslie C. Hunt would appear to be the author of The Prisoners' Progress. An illustrated diary of the march into captivity of the last of the British Army in France—June 1940 (Hutchinson & Co., 1941), who was himself a Lieut. in the East Surrey Regiment who was a P.O.W. at Oflag Vllc. in Germany. Paul Clifton was the author of The Fastest Men on Earth (Herbert Jenkins, 1964) and Geoffrey Norris wrote Jet Adventure. Airmen today and tomorrow (Phoenix House, 1962) leaving A. M. Feast as the only complete unknown.

Update: 18 November: Jamie Sturgeon passes on the speculation that A. M. Feast is a Canadian feature writer called Arnold M. Feast, who contributed to Flying magazine. Further investigation shows that Flying Officer A. M. Feast was a Beaufort pilot with 39 Squadron during WW2, shot down off the coast of Sicily in March 1943; he became a P.O.W. in Germany for the rest of the war. He died in 1988. Feast contributed to Pioneering Aviation in the West which was published posthumously by Hancock House in 1992.

Lesbian Love in Literature edited by Stella Fox (Digit R827, Feb 1964) Cover by R. A. Osborne

The varieties of Lesbian experience...
__A dissatisfied wife learns that she and her husband love the same woman—
__A young girl falls in love with her father's mistress—
__A college girl initiates her roommate—
__A French lady dressed in man's clothes looks for her lovers—
__A student learns love from her teacher—
__Here is an anthology of superb stories and selections from distinguished novels that presents many variations on the theme of Lesbian love.

• 9 * Boyle, Kay * from Monday Night
• 19 * De Maupassant, Guy * Paul's Mistress
• 39 * Mallet, Francoise * from The Illusionist * ex
• 65 * Lewis, Sinclair * from Ann Vickers * ex
• 77 * Gautier, Theophile * from Mademoiselle de Maupin * ex
• 115 * Willingham, Calder * The Sum of Two Angles
• 125 * Lawrence, D. H. * from The Rainbow * ex
• 145 * Mansfield, Katherine * Bliss

This one sold pretty well, not surprisingly, and went through at least three editions (Feb 1964, Sep 1964, Oct 1964), which may have been a first for Digit as they usually gave new editions a whole new number and it was often years between editions. Originally published in the US by Avon (1962), I can't find any other reference to Stella Fox (well, not this Stella Fox), so I presume it is a pseudonym. The original version seems to have included some poems, which may explain why Sappho, an ancient Greek poet from whom the term sapphic is derived, is mentioned on the cover although none of her work appears inside.