Von Ryan’s Express by David Westheimer

David Westheimer | Doubleday & Company | 1964 | Hardcover with Original Dust Jacket

A vintage 1964 hardcover edition of David Westheimer’s gripping World War II novel Von Ryan’s Express, issued as a Book-of-the-Month Club selection and retaining its wonderfully evocative original illustrated dust jacket.

Set during World War II, the novel follows a group of captured British and American officers being transported by train through occupied Italy toward a German prison camp. Their chances of escape—and survival—come to rest largely with Colonel Joseph Ryan, an American officer whose uncompromising manner earns him the resentful nickname “Von Ryan.”

Westheimer’s novel became the basis for the memorable 1965 film starring Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard, giving this vintage edition added appeal for collectors of WWII fiction and classic cinema.

The original dust jacket is particularly attractive, with dramatic period artwork depicting armed soldiers aboard a railway transport. The rear jacket features additional illustrated artwork and an excerpt from the novel.