A short life of the author
Wendell Lewis Willkie (1892–1944) was an American lawyer and business executive who won the 1940 Republican presidential nomination as a dark-horse candidate and challenged Franklin Roosevelt in a closely fought election. After losing, Willkie became an internationalist ally of Roosevelt, serving as a personal envoy abroad.
One World
One World (1943, Simon & Schuster) was the product of Willkie’s 1942 globe-spanning tour — visiting the Soviet Union, China, the Middle East, and North Africa in a converted Army bomber. The book argued passionately for an end to colonialism, for postwar international cooperation, and against American isolationism. It sold over two million copies in its first year — one of the fastest-selling books in American history — and helped shape the intellectual climate that led to the United Nations.
Willkie died suddenly of a heart attack in 1944 at fifty-two, before the end of the war.
Collecting Willkie
One World (1943, Simon & Schuster) was printed in enormous quantities and first editions are common at $15–$40. Signed copies are less common and bring $100–$300. The book is collected as a document of American wartime idealism and the origins of the postwar internationalist order.