Franklin Library leather edition of Winston Churchill's "Their Finest Hour," a Limited edition, Illustrated with Sketches by Captain Bryan de Grineau, one of the GREATEST BOOKS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY series, published in 1978.  Bound in royal blue leather, the book has gray French moire silk end leaves, satin book marker, Symth-sewn binding, printed on archival, acid-free paper, hubbed spine, gold gilding on three edges---in near FINE condition. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, who lived from 1874--1965, was the eldest son of Lord Randolph Churchill, the seventh duke of Marlborough. Churchill served in the army in 1895 in Cuba, India, Tirah and Egypt. He was undersecretary for the colonies, 1906-08, first lord of the Admiralty, 1911-1915; secretary of war, 1918-21; and chancellor of the exchequer 1924-29; and prime minister, 1940-45 and 1951-55. "I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin," declared Winston Churchill in June 1940.  "Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. . . .Hitler know that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. . .  Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will say, 'This was their finest hour.'"  Later Churchill wrote: "We shall defend our island. We will fight on the beaches, and we shall fight on the landing-grounds. . . we shall never surrender."  Alone and outnumbered, and separated from the seemingly unstoppable German war machine by a narrow strip of sea, the British received word that France had signed the armistice with Germany. Hermann Goering's Luftwaffe set the crucial date for "Eagle Day," the day his pilots would commence the intensive air war and from September 7, 1940 to May 11, 1941, Goering's aircraft showered London with almost twenty tons of high explosives, hitting BUCKINGHAM PALACE, the HOUSE OF COMMONS, and 10 DOWNING STREET.  The bombings left 20,000 dead and 27,000 wounded. A million Britons died in the First World War, but nothing surpasses 1940. 648 pages. I offer combined shipping.