CHURCHILL, Winston S. A History of the English-Speaking Peoples.

First editions, first impressions, a superb presentation set, inscribed in each volume by Churchill to Anthony Eden, British prime minister, and Churchill’s wartime foreign secretary. The volumes are respectively inscribed on the initial blanks: “Anthony and Clarissa from Winston 7 March 1956”; “To Anthony from Winston November 1956”; “To Anthony from Winston October 1957”; “To Anthony from Winston April 1958”. The first volume was published on 23 April 1956, which Churchill’s presentation on 7 March precedes by 6 weeks. The subsequent two volumes were inscribed in the month of publication, the fourth the month following publication. The significance of the presentation of this set is difficult to overstate, and indeed, there are few individuals who could equal Eden in importance as a recipient. The two men were inseparable for the two most significant decades of their political careers. In the 1930s, during Churchill’s wilderness years, Eden was one of the few leading Conservative politicians who opposed app