English-language translations of Hitler's Mein Kampf during the 1930s raise a number of perplexing questions. Why did a translation not appear in Britain and America until October 1933, seven years after it had first been published in Germany and nine months after Hitler had come to power? When it appeared, why was it only an abridgment rather than the full text? Was it true, as some alleged, that the Nazis severely censored this version? Who was the translator, and why was his name absent from the English edition? When the complete text finally appeared in March 1939, why were there not only two American editions but a separate English edition as well? Did Hitler oppose publishing the entire text in foreign editions, or was its appearance delayed because the publishers felt that such a long and tedious autobiography was of limited public interest? These are the kinds of puzzling queries that intrigued the authors of this book.

Hitler's Mein Kampf in Britain and America: A Publishing History 1930–39

History

Barnes, James J.

Barnes, P.

Europe

Cambridge University Press

First edition. A study of American politics in action. xv, 311 pages. cloth, dust jacket.. 8vo..

Authors, publishers and politicians: The quest for an Anglo-American copyright agreement, 1815-1854

Routledge& Kegan Paul

"The quest for an Anglo-American copyright agreement was repeatedly thwarted throughout most of the nineteenth century, due to the effect of lobbyists and influence-peddlars on the American Congress. This meant that in the United States the question of international copyright was not decided on its own merits but rather by pressure groups who wielded great financial and private power upon the legislators. The opposite was true in Great Britain, where Parliament was far more interested in the rights of authors and publishers and had already passed a number of statutes promoting international copyright. Copyright agreements, however, needed to be mutually agreed upon by both countries, and the United States would not reciprocate. In desperation, a group of British authors and publishers decided to play the game of politics American-style, and with great caution they raised enough money to defray the expenses of a secret lobby in Washington. A copyright treaty was duly signed by the Secretary of State and all that was required was Senate approval. Authors, Publishers and Politicians describes these efforts to secure an Anglo-American copyright agreement. It explores the underlying causes of the failure of this quest, a failure which enabled literary piracy on both sides of the Atlantic to continue operations for a further forty years. It traces the effects this had on the writers and producers of books as well as their reading public. Few aspects of Anglo-American relations were untouched by the drama presented in this study. Its broader implications range from the straightforward business transactions, official diplomatic manœuvers, endless legal complexities, and clandestine political intrigue, to the peculiarities involved in book smuggling, newspaper rivalries, and industrial espionage. James J. Barnes is Associate Professor of History at Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana, where he has been teaching history since 1962. As a result of several research grants from foundations such as the American Council of Learned Societies, the Social Science Research Council and the American Philosophical Society, he has been able to spend considerable time in London during the past few years undertaking research for this book. He is the author of Free Trade in Books: A Study of the London Book Trade since 1800 (O.U.P., 1964)."

Authors, Publishers and Politicians: The Quest for an Anglo-American Copyright Agreement, 1815-1854

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

Ohio State University Press

These letters are not the official numbered dispatches that have been readily available to scholars for a number of years. Rather, they are letters that were exchanged on a personal level between British diplomats serving in Washington, D.C., and their foreign secretaries back in London, and that bore the bold marking "Private and Confidential" on the envelopes and on the letters themselves. The majority of them have not been published previously, nor were they filed with the official Foreign Office documents which are available to the public. Instead, they were retained among the private papers of each foreign secretary, and were therefore solely his property and entirely dependent on his heirs for preservation. As a consequence they reside in various collections scattered throughout the British Isles. The private letters usually dealt with matters of the greatest urgency and diplomatic delicacy and were intended only for the eyes of the recipients, not for subordinates in the Foreign Office. They were sent with special care by diplomatic courier so as not to fall into the hands of the United States Post Office where they might be appropriated by press reporters. The Barneses have provided each letter with an introduction in order to place it in its contemporary context. Allusions within the letters are clarified by notes. Brief biographical sketches of key individuals are included in an appendix. Because of the private nature of these letters, they give a fuller and more human dimension to the events they describe. There are remarkable insights concerning American politics and society by foreign diplomats who were not casual travelers but experienced observers trained to note and record their impressions. Since their terms of office ranged up to five or six years, their judgments transcend the superficial. Whatever prejudices they had enlivened their style of writing and add another dimension to the reader's understanding of America and its people. Unlike their continental European counterparts, these ambassadors suffered no language barrier and accommodated themselves more readily to life in the United States. For them, in spite of past differences, a common literature, commerce, and tradition bound the two nations together. Throughout the period covered by these letters crucial diplomatic issues like the Monroe Doctrine and Manifest Destiny. were being discussed. Domestically, slavery and statehood dominated the political scene. Reading these letters recalls those turbulent times and captures them in a new and penetrating way.

Private and Confidential: Letters from British Ministers in Washington to the Foreign Secretaries in London, 1844-67

Barnes, Patience P.

Americas

Susquehanna Univ Pr

Authors, Publishers and Politicians: The Quest for an Anglo-American Copyright Agreement, 1815-1854 (Routledge Revivals)

Routledge

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