Spartacus

New York: The Author, 1951. Hardcover. Very Good/Good. First edition. Corners 9 a bit bumped, very good in worn, about good dust jacket with several tears and some staining on the rear panel. Signed by the author. Because of growing concern over his Communist sympathies, Fast was unable to find a commercial publisher for this book and finally published it himself. 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. A compromised but reasonably presentable copy.