Ballads of the B.E.F.

New York: Coventry House, 1932. First edition. First edition. 47 pp. Bound in publisher's brown cloth with paper title label. Near Fine with slight lean to spine, in a Good example of the rare dust jacket, with some chips to edges and along gutters, and wear. Seldom seen in jacket. A collection of music for the Bonus Army (AKA the Bonus Expeditionary Force, as they called themselves), a group of World War I veterans who marched on Washington seeking the bonuses the government had promised them for their services but had never paid. It didn't end well: in 1932 President Hoover would have them gassed, shot at, and charged by the military under MacArthur. This particular collection of songs was produced anonymously by the Communist Party USA, looking to piggyback on the cause of the Bonus Army (whose exact politics remain the subject of debate amongst historians to this day). Similar to IWW songbooks, these are parodies of well-known songs with political, sometimes bitterly humorous lyrics. Illustrated. (Inventory #: 140947479)