The Power Gods

London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1958. First edition. 192pp. Small 8vo. Blue textured paper over boards; dust jacket. Foxing to endpapers and prelims, with a few light spots to textblock edges; mild warping to rear board. About very good in like jacket, unclipped, with several closed tears, toning, and small chips at spine ends and tips.

First UK (and only hardcover) edition of this novel about a motorcycle gang, written by American novelist David Stacton (1923-1968) under his Bud Clifton pseudonym. A prolific writer noted for his elegant and frequently gay-coded novels, Stacton found his most appreciative audience in England. As Clifton, he also penned Muscle Boy (1958), a gay crime novel set "in the milieu of the physique photography culture and its association with all-make pornographic films" (Gunn, Gay American Novels, p.107). Jacket design by Albany Wiseman.