# Is "Mission with LeMay (with Curtis LeMay)" by MacKinlay Kantor a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Mission with LeMay (with Curtis LeMay) by MacKinlay Kantor (Doubleday & Company, 1965) is identified by: Full title is Mission with LeMay: My Story. US Doubleday edition is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Full title is Mission with LeMay: My Story
- First edition states 'First Edition' on the copyright page (standard Doubleday convention of the period)
- A thick octavo of roughly 581 pages in blue cloth
- Memoir of General Curtis E. LeMay written with Kantor
- Publisher imprint reads Doubleday & Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | MacKinlay Kantor |
| Publisher | Doubleday & Company |
| Year | 1965 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Full title is Mission with LeMay: My Story |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Full title is Mission with LeMay: My Story. First edition states 'First Edition' on the copyright page (standard Doubleday convention of the period). A thick octavo of roughly 581 pages in blue cloth. Memoir of General Curtis E. LeMay written with Kantor.

## Is this the true first?
US Doubleday edition is the true first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings drop the 'First Edition' statement from the copyright page.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Mission with LeMay (with Curtis LeMay)* by MacKinlay Kantor a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/mission-with-lemay-with-curtis-lemay
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.