The Puppet Masters.

New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc.,, 1951. In a notably bright example of the jacket First edition, first printing. Originally serialized in Galaxy Science Fiction, The Puppet Masters is an explicit reflection of the American paranoia invoked by the "Red Scare", with parallels drawn between mind-controlling parasites from outer space and the Communist Russians. This has strong claims to be "the first major fictional workup of the flying saucer craze" (Patterson). The Puppet Masters "has something important to say to anyone who thinks about the self-responsible human being in relation his/her society - and how his/her society can shove him/her casually into the dirt" (ibid.). Octavo. Original olive-green cloth, spine lettered in dark red. With dust jacket. A few trivial marks to rear joint. A fine copy in jacket, spine panel a little sunned, two tiny chips to head of folds of spine panel, foot of spine panel and corners nicked, rear panel a touch soiled, a few short closed tears and a little rubbing to edges, fugitive pink colouring preserved. William H. Patterson, Jr., "Introduction to The Puppet Masters", available online.