Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 3 Nov 2026.
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Das Boot first appeared in German in 1973. The first English translation was the British one by J. Maxwell (John) Brownjohn, published by Collins, London, in 1974 under the title U-Boat, a 480-page hardback in dust jacket, ISBN 0002211971 (9780002211970). The American translation by Denver and Helen Lindley followed from Knopf in 1975 as The Boat, so the Collins book is both the UK first and the first in English. Fontana paperbacks of 1976 and 1982 reprint the Brownjohn text and are not firsts. Some online listings wrongly name Knopf as publisher of the Collins ISBN.
Collins did not mark first editions or first impressions in any special way, so a Collins first, Crime Club titles included, carries no edition statement and is recognised by the absence of any later date and by the points for that title.
Read the full guide to Collins 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.
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Collins, London, in 1974, in hardback.
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 3 November 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
For most books published since the 1920s, the original dust jacket carries a large share of the value, often most …
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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