ZU REVENTLOW, Ernst Graf "The Vampire of the Continent" [The Jackson Press, 1917]

ZU REVENTLOW, Ernst Graf. The Vampire of the Continent.

New York: The Jackson Press, 1917. Second Edition (of the English translation). 7.5" x 5.5", xiii + 225pp. Grey cloth with red and black pictorial vampire design and titling. Lacking dust jacket. Spine slightly cocked forward. Mild cloth rubbing. Textblock clean and hinges sound. Very Good.

Count Ernst zu Reventlow’s The Vampire of the Continent is a German nationalist work that flips the Allied propaganda of the First World War on its head, arguing that Britain—not Germany—is the true “vampire” draining Europe through its naval power and empire. Translated into English in 1916 by Irish writer George Chatterton-Hill, the book even made a dramatic entrance to America, reportedly smuggled into New York by U-boat. It was part of Germany’s push to counter British influence and win over neutral opinion, using sharp rhetoric and historical claims to make its case. Today, it’s valued as a vivid example of wartime propaganda from the German side.