HANS ULRICH RUDEL STUKA PILOT AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED BOOK

AN AUTOGRAPHED EDITION OF, STUKA PILOT, BY HANS ULRICH RUDEL. THIS IS AN ORIGINAL VINTAGE PAPERBACK, SECOND EDITION PUBLISHED BY BALLANTINE IN 1961, 239 PAGES. THIS IS A CONSIGNMENT ITEM FROM A LONG TIME COLLECTOR WELL KNOW TO US. THE BOOK WAS SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUDEL ON THE INSIDE COVER IN 1973. THE ORIGINAL OWNER AND HIS FRIEND WERE ABLE TO MEET WITH RUDEL IN AUSTRIA IN 1973, AND, DESPITE HAVING A BROKEN RIGHT ARM, HE GRACIOUSLY SIGNED A BOOK FOR EACH OF THEM WITH HIS LEFT ARM. AN EXTREMELY RARE OFFERING: BASED ON OUR RESEARCH, RUDEL DID NOT SIGN VERY MANY ITEMS. A BRIEF NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR: The most highly decorated German serviceman of the war, Rudel was one of only 27 military men to be awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, and the only person to be awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit goldenem Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten), Germany's highest military decoration. Rudel flew 2,530 combat missions claiming a total of 2,000 targets destroyed; including 800 vehicles, 519 tanks, 150 artillery pieces, 70 landing craft, nine aircraft, 4 armored trains, several bridges, a destroyer, two cruisers, and the Soviet battleship Marat. CONDITION: VERY GOOD, TITLES AND COVERS ARE STILL NICE AND BRIGHT, SOME MINOR EDGEWEAR, MINOR CREASING TO SPINE, INTERIOR PAGESS HAVE SOME TYPICAL LIGHT AGE TONING FOR A VINTAGE PAPERBACK, FORMER OWNER'S INITIALS WRITTEN SMALL TO TOP CORNER OF FRONT FREE ENDPAPER, OTHERWISE EXCELLENT. A NICE COLLECTORS GRADE EXAMPLE.