Lord Of The Flies. London: Faber, 1961. Sixth Impression. Red cloth boards with white lettering to spine, in pictorial dust jacket. Light wear & chipping to jacket, otherwise a nice bright copy.

William Golding’s first novel, Lord of the Flies, is an allegorical story about a group of boys stranded on a coral island whose attempt to govern themselves ends in disaster. Drawing on his experience as a middle-aged schoolteacher, he even staged a fight between two groups of his students to observe their behaviour.

The manuscript faced numerous rejections, including an initial one from its eventual publisher, Faber and Faber.