Description
No Place to Hide — David Bradley (First Edition, 1948)
Edition: First Edition, 1948
Author: David Bradley
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Binding: Hardcover with original dust jacket, protected in Brodart
Condition: Very Good book / Good dust jacket — some tears to lower edge; jacket complete; book tight and bright
Features: Original jacket, Atomic Age nonfiction classic, early Cold War history, archivally protected
Description
This 1948 hardcover first edition represents one of the earliest and most influential civilian reflections on the dawn of the Atomic Age. Written by Dr. David Bradley, a medical officer assigned to the radiological safety section during Operation Crossroads, No Place to Hide provides a harrowing, log-style eyewitness account of the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll.
Bradley's narrative meticulously tracks the invisible, lingering dangers of radioactive contamination on the target fleet and surrounding waters, challenging the immediate postwar assumptions regarding the treatability of nuclear fallout. Originally serialized in The Atlantic Monthly, this work played a vital role in shaping early Cold War public consciousness and civilian anti-nuclear movements.
Complete with its original, unclipped dust jacket, this volume serves as an exceptional primary document for collectors of nuclear history, twentieth-century scientific reportage, and American political history.
Why This Copy Belongs in Your Collection
- True First Trade Edition State: This volume features the authentic "Published November 1948 / First Edition" statement on the copyright page, confirming its first-printing status.
- Scarce Jacket Survival: Mid-century copies of this title are notoriously difficult to find with their original dust jackets intact, as the fragile paper stock used during this era was prone to heavy tearing.
Curated Vintage Condition Notes
- Condition: Very Good / Good Dust Jacket.
- Details: The hardcover binding remains solid, square, and rigidly tight, holding crisp, clean interior pages that display a gentle, uniform natural age-toning entirely free of ink markings or contemporary annotations. The original dust jacket retains its bold typography and strong color, showing honest shelf wear with minor chipping and shallow tears along the lower edge margins.
- Preservation: The dust jacket has been carefully stabilized, flattened, and housed inside a fresh, premium archival Brodart protective cover to ensure long-term shelf preservation.
