This work is about how the United States possesses an inferior defense network and is open to attack by foreign aggressors, and was published in 1915 while America remained neutral in the Great War. It was written by Hudson Maxim, the co-inventor of smokeless gunpowder, and brother of Hiram Maxim, the inventor of the Maxim Machine Gun, which makes the book interesting enough in itself.
But the copy we pulled out of the box when unpacking is signed by the author, take a look...
That's right! It was signed and sent to Lord Kitchener, yes...probably THAT Lord Kitchener. Kitchener died on 5 June 1916 when his ship hit a German mine. I can't make out the last number in the date of the dedication, it seems to be May 17, 191?...if that number is a 4 or a 5 as I suspect, then this is quite a piece of history!
It is first stamped into the War Office Library in 1917 which means that, assuming that the dedication date is in 1914 or 1915, it went into Lord Kitchener's library and was donated to the War Office Library after his death.
Anyone want to take a guess? What year is that!?
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