Red cloth binding with gilt title on the spine.

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“War and the Private Investor” by Eugene Staley is a highly regarded academic study originally published in 1935 by Doubleday, Doran & Co. in cooperation with the University of Chicago Press. A first edition copy in very good condition holds significant historical and collectible value, as it is a foundational text examining the intersection of international finance and geopolitics prior to World War II.

Market Value & Collectibility

• Estimated Value: For a well-preserved first edition in “Very Good” to “Near Fine” condition without a dust jacket, current specialized antiquarian listings can range from roughly £50 to upwards of £525 depending on the exact condition, binding crispness, and market demand. A copy in bright red cloth with sharp gilt lettering is currently listed on Biblio by Arroyo Seco Books for £525.16. 
• Scarcity: As an academic text that relied on hundreds of individual interviews with high-profile global capitalists, economists, and politicians from the late 1927–1935 era (including Winston Churchill), original pressings are quite rare and sought after by institutional libraries and economic historians.

Key Specifications

• Format: Hardcover, typically bound in bright red cloth with a blind-stamped front cover and gilt lettering on the spine.
• Pagination: xxv, 562 pages.
• Core Premise: Staley concluded that the economic regulation of global commerce should be managed by international bodies rather than national governments to successfully mitigate the friction points that lead to war. 

The structure of “War and the Private Investor” is divided into clear thematic parts, and market prices vary drastically between original historical listings and modern collectible value. 

Book Content Outline

The volume is split into introductory pieces and two major text parts: 

• The Problem: Explores the scale of international investment and how private assets become tangled up in national politics (using the German private debt crisis as a primary example). 
• Part I: Private Investments and Diplomacy: Covers case studies from places like Morocco, Tunis, Samoa, and Persia. It breaks down how private investments serve foreign policy, how diplomacy protects assets, and how investors or governments influence each other. 
• Part II: Private Investments and the Causes of War: Analyzes the points of friction between capital-exporting and capital-importing countries, identifying which types of investments pose the highest risk of triggering international military conflicts. 

Historical vs. Collectible Price

• Original 1935 Retail Price: When it was first released in November 1935, the book was sold by the publisher for $3.50.
• Current Collectible Market Value: Today, original first editions in very good condition generally fetch between £50 and £550+ depending on specific wear. Top-tier antiquarian dealers, such as Arroyo Seco Books via AbeBooks, have high-quality copies listed for up to £675.