# Is "Ash: A Secret History" by Mary Gentle a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Ash: A Secret History by Mary Gentle (Gollancz, 2000) is identified by: UK Gollancz hardcover, London, 2000, is the first appearance of the complete novel in a single volume; issued in dust jacket. Precedence here is genuinely split.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- UK Gollancz hardcover, London, 2000, is the first appearance of the complete novel in a single volume; issued in dust jacket
- Identify by the 2000 Gollancz title page and no later-printing statement
- The US Avon Eos edition split the text into four mass-market paperbacks, a materially different form
- Publisher imprint reads Gollancz
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mary Gentle |
| Publisher | Gollancz |
| Year | 2000 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | UK Gollancz hardcover, London, 2000, is the first appearance of the complete novel in a single volume; issued in dust jacket |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
UK Gollancz hardcover, London, 2000, is the first appearance of the complete novel in a single volume; issued in dust jacket. Identify by the 2000 Gollancz title page and no later-printing statement. The US Avon Eos edition split the text into four mass-market paperbacks, a materially different form.

## Is this the true first?
Precedence here is genuinely split. The complete novel first appeared as one volume from Gollancz in the UK in 2000. However, the US Avon Eos paperback split released its first volume, titled A Secret History, in 1999, ahead of the UK single volume, with the remaining three volumes (Carthage Ascendant, The Wild Machines, Lost Burgundy) following in 2000. So the UK Gollancz 2000 is the first single-volume edition, but it is not the first appearance of the opening text in print. Ash won the 2000 BSFA Award for Best Novel and the 2001 Sidewise Award for Alternate History.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The US four-volume Avon Eos paperbacks are a separate publishing form; the first of them (1999) actually predates the UK single volume. Later reissues are reprints.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Ash: A Secret History* by Mary Gentle a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/ash-a-secret-history
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.