Another edition's cover
Cover of another edition of this book. The Arrow Books 1978 cover has not been photographed yet.
Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 30 Oct 2026.
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First published as a DAW Books paperback in New York in 1972. The first British edition is the Arrow Books paperback, London, 1978, ISBN 0099154102, 160 pages, which records the 1972 DAW publication. The Severn House hardback of 1986 (ISBN 0727812289, also 160 pages) is the first British hardback, and its own record notes the earlier Arrow edition, so it is not the first UK edition.
Arrow is a paperback imprint, not a hardback house. For most titles an Arrow copy is a later, cheaper reissue of a book first published in hardback, often by its parent or a sister imprint, so it is not the first edition. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a typical case: Hutchinson issued the hardback first and Arrow followed with the paperback in October 1968.
Read the full guide to Arrow Books first editions, decade by decade, and check your copy's copyright page against it. Our number line decoder reads the printing from the row of numbers.
We have not yet confirmed the issue points that tell this first impression from later ones. Until we do, compare your copy's title page and copyright page with the publisher, place and year above: any later printing or edition statement means it is not this one.
Know the points? Tell us. We publish them, with credit, once a second source agrees.
The cover image shows this book but may not be this edition or printing.
Arrow Books, London, in 1978, in paperback.
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 30 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
A book club edition is a copy printed for a mail-order club and sold to members, often looking almost identical …
Read the guide →7 min readTo identify a first edition, check that your copy is the first printing of the first edition. Read the copyright …
Read the guide →6 min readBook condition grading uses a six-step trade scale: Fine, Near Fine, Very Good, Good, Fair and Poor. Collectors grade the …
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