CHURCHILL, Winston S.

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The Story of the Malakand Field Force. First edition, presentation copy to Churchill's valet and companion of many years, inscribed by the author on the half-title, "Thomas Walden from Winston S. Churchill". Contemporary presentation copies of Churchill's first book are exceedingly rare.Thomas Walden (1868-1921) was the long-serving valet of Churchill's father, Lord Randolph. When Randolph died in 1895, Walden switched to serving Winston, "accompanying him to all his wars and taking care of him" (Lee & Lee, 2010, p. 193). He travelled with Churchill to South Africa in 1899. Churchill was with Walden when he was captured by the Boers, and Walden wrote to his mother to tell her the news. When Churchill entered government, Walden acted as his personal messenger.Walden served Churchill until his death in 1921. After his funeral, Churchill wrote to his wife "Alas my dearest I grieve to have lost this humble friend devoted and true whom I have known since I was a youth", and told her he had "wept bitterly" along with the rest of the household - as Andrew Roberts notes, "few other aristocrats of the day would have described their manservant as a friend and wept for them" (Roberts, p. 286).The Story of the Malakand Field Force is based on Churchill's reports as correspondent for the Daily Telegraph on Sir Bindon Blood's punitive 1897 expedition against the Afghan tribesmen of the north-west frontier, during which he "took part in several skirmishes in which he came under fire and wit

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