The Year of the Rat A Chronicle - SIGNED copy
New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., (1964). Reprint. Hardcover with Dust Jacket. 8vo. Pp. viii, 213. With a two-page biography of the author. Postscript by Ralph Ingersoll. Bound in black cloth with red metallic lettering stamped on spine. Some wear to cover, with spine a trifle cocked and a slight snag the size of a chickpea. Dust jacket, which is rubbed, is now housed in a removable, clear archival sleeve. Inscribed by Zarubica on the half-title page. Good / Good+. Item #4991 The postscript, which provides context for the story, is written by Ingersoll and that's appropriate: Ingersoll himself played a major role in executing the secret plan that deceived the Germans into believing the Allied invasion would strike at Calais instead of the Normandy coast. The postscript is a model of good writing, reflecting Ingersoll's deep immersion in journalism that included managing editor of The New Yorker for its first five years.
Inscription reads, "To -- with appreciation from Darryle + myself, '75, [signed] Mladin". Zarubica, born of Yugoslavian parents, was an all-American kid who played football at UCLA before serving as a WWII PT boat captain in the South Seas. Following the war, Coca Cola dispatched Zarubica to Austria build a bottling plant. In two years he built 38 Coke plants in southern Europe, and his expense account was enough to secure a hunting lodge near the Berchtesgarden, where he entertained business associates. At the lodge, Zarubica is told innermost details about the Allies hoaxes to deceive the true landing of Operation Overlord. He suspected that person was Hitler's right-hand-man, Martin Bormann, then serving as an incognito hunting guide. Thus the crux of Zarubica's narrative.
Price: $30.00