London: Michael Joseph. Second printing, Jan. 1957 (first was Aug. 1956). Black boards. Boards a little seasonably bowed, else fine. Dust jacket (art by Peter Curl) has minute nicks at head of spine, soft crease and nicks along top edge of rear panel; else fine and bright, flap price intact. A very nice copy of the author's first novel, basis of the black & white 1957 science fiction film (The 27th Day) , for which he wrote the screenplay. "Five individuals from five nations, including the 'Superpowers', USA, USSR, and China, suddenly find themselves on an alien spacecraft. An alien gives each a container holding capsules. No power on earth can open a given container except a mental command from the person to whom it is given. Each person has been provided with the power of life and death. Any of these individuals has the capability to instantaneously launch the capsules to whatever coordinates he/she chooses, and each capsule will then eradicate all human life within a 3,000-mile radius of its designated location." - Craig Chilton, IMDb. John Mantley was from Toronto and a University of Toronto graduate before moving to Hollywood. During the war he was a pilot with the RCAF. He was a second cousin of Mary Pickford. He acted and directed at the American National Theatre and the Pasadena Playhouse before moving onto screenwriting - Gunsmoke (1955), How the West Was Won (1976). He wrote TV scripts The Untouchables, The Outer Limits, Kraft Theatre, Rawhide, and freelanced scripts for Gunsmoke.