JOHN W. TOLAND - AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED - HFSID 185890

JOHN TOLAND
The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian tells admirer to "Keep reading!"
Autograph note signed: "Dear Toni -/ Here are the pictures. Keep reading!/ John Toland" in black ink. 1 page, 8½x3½. John Toland (1912-2004) attended Williams College and the Yale School of Drama in hopes to become a playwright, even spending his summer breaks traveling with hobos and writing plays of which his hobo-friends where the main characters. After graduation, he claimed as a writer he was "about as big a failure as a man can be", having written six complete novels, 26  plays, and a hundred short stories before completing his first sale, a short story which The American Magazine paid $165 for in 1954. After a second sale to LOOK magazine on dirigibles, Toland switched his writing focus to history and published his first book on dirigibles, "Ships in the Sky" (1957). He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1971 for "The Rising Sun", which was based on original and extensive interviews with high Japanese officials who survived WWII, chronicling the Empire of Japan from the military rebellion of 1936 to the end of WWII; it won the Pulitzer due to being the first book in English to tell the history of the Pacific War from the Japanese point of view, rather than the American. Toland is also well known for his book, "Adolf Hitler: The Definitive Biography" (1976), as well as his other history books including "Infamy: Pearl Harbor and Its Aftermath" (1982) and "Battle: The Story of the Bulge" (1987). He wrote two historical novels "Gods of War" (1985) and "Occupation" (1987). Slightly toned. Edges frayed. Irregularly cut. Ink notes on verso that show through on front (but not on signature). Small tears along top edge. Otherwise, fine condition.