Spartacus

New York: Crown Publishers, 1958. Hardcover. Good/Very Good. Eighth edition. Stated "Special Movie Edition" on front flap of the jacket. Small owner name front fly, modest tear and crase at the edge of one leaf (p. 263-264), very good in very good or better dust jacket with a few short tears near the crown. Because of growing concern over his Communist sympathies, Fast was unable to find a commercial publisher for this book and finally published the first edition himself. It went quickly through six large printings, and eventually secured him a commercial publisher. By the time this edition came out, it had been out of print for several years, when it was revived to coincide with the upcoming 1960 film. Other than the notice on the jacket flap, there is no other connection to the film. In the midst of the Red Scare this study of the eternal quest for freedom, and of the dying days of the Roman Republic as it moved toward Empire, became a best-seller. Basis for the epic film produced by and starring Kirk Douglas, and directed by Stanley Kubrick. The magnificent cast also included Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton, scene-stealer Peter Ustinov (who won an Oscar), Tony Curtis, Woody Strode, and many others. Douglas's unflinching insistence that Dalton Trumbo receive screen credit for his script signaled the end of the Hollywood Blacklist. Uncommon edition.