Fire on the Mountain

New York: Dial Press, (1962). First edition, 1st printing. 8vo. 211 pp. Original quarter red cloth under yellow-covered boards, stamped in black, in original unclipped ($3.95) dust-jacket. Edge wear with tears, loss, wrinkling and handling to jacket. Tape repairs to jacket flap hinges. Protected in archival mylar. Book shows light wear. Light toning to page edges. A few small nicks to panels and edges. Handling wear to edges with smudges to panels.

Dust Jacket: Good

Hardcover: Very Good

“The hero of the story is John Vogelin, a New Mexico rancher whose land is about to be condemned by the United States Air Force, who want to use his land to expand a bombing range. He is the last holdout among the several people whose land the Air Force wants, and he refuses to move. The story of his resistance to being thrown off his land and his death is told through the eyes of his grandson, who is visiting the ranch for the summer. The book is essentially a critique on the over-extension of government. Abbey makes an argument for limited government, more explicitly to limit government's ability to expropriate private land. However, Abbey still opposed the private sector from developing on natural lands, arguments which were explored in later books such as The Monkey Wrench Gang through the novel's antagonist, which put him at odds with aspects of these ideologies.”