Condition Continued: There are no markings on the pages. No attachments in the book. And with the exception of the author's signed inscription, no one has written their name or anything else anywhere in the book.

Dodd, Mead & Company, New York, 1944. Hardcover. Written by Fairfax Downey. First Edition (SD). Illustrated by Paul Brown. This  book came from the library of John J. McCloy. It was inscribed to his son by the author. The inscription is on the first front end paper and reads 'For Johnny McCloy, Fairfax Downey, New York City, May,1945.' Inside the book is an empty Air Mail envelope postmarked January 10, 1962 from a Lt. J. McCloy to a Miss Ellen McCloy at Smith College. So that would've been from John (Johhny) J. McCloy 2nd, to his younger sister Ellen, sent some 18 years after he received this book. 

There's a short Kirkus review for this book: 'There may be other yarns about jeeps in the offing, but this is the first I've seen and I thought it was fun. It is a story of a very particular jeep, whose name was changed from Dorothea to Jezebel, and who proceeded to earn the title, in the best sense, and to win her pie to a new allegiance. Adventures in North Africa ring true. I wonder whether the author, now a Major, speaks from experience?'
He did. Back then, they didn't have Wikipedia. He served in North Africa during World War II. When did he find the time to write a book published in 1944? Wikipedia has no answer. 'Fairfax Davis Downey was born in 1893 and died in 1990. He was a writer and military historian (he also wrote historical novels for juveniles). He graduated from Yale, where he was an editor of campus humor magazine The Yale Record. After college, he served in the U.S. Army as a captain of the 12th Field Artillery in World War I. He was a recipient of the Silver Star for gallantry during the Battle of Belleau Wood. During the Second World War he served in North Africa, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. I'm guessing he knew John J. McCloy from military service. McCloy was Assistant Secretary of War during World War I.