Robert Grant (1852-1940), author, probate judge, and Harvard Overseer, wrote popular socially aware novels that combined Dickensian progressive realism and Bostonian parochialism. He stepped out of that milieu in the summer of 1916. While visiting his grandchildren in England, The Boston Evening Transcript asked Grant to contribute a series of “impressions” of the French and English at home and at the Western Front. Summer of 1916 marked the middle of the year-long Battle of Verdun which had become a symbol of French determination to halt the German advance. By December, French and German casualties would number almost one million. Grant himself acknowledges the “lightness” of his impressions in the face of the senseless carnage he saw. There is little doubt regarding his own feelings, but with America still undecided about entering the war, he may have wished to avoid being too inflammatory. Grant's articles for the Boston Evening Transcript were published in book form as Their Spirit. First editions in this condition with fine book jackets are rare. Condition: Light water staining in the upper right corner from the title page to page 24, otherwise fine. Jacket condition: Fine with minor chipping in upper and lower right front corners. Dimensions: 4”x 6.5”.