# Is "The Eagle Has Landed" by Jack Higgins a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins (Collins, 1975) is identified by: The Collins first edition, published in London on 8 September 1975, is bound in black cloth lettered in silver on the spine, with pictorial endpaper maps of the 'General area of Hobs End and Studley Constable' at front and rear — the quickest physical check for this edition. True first is the UK Collins edition (London, 8 September 1975); the same-year first American edition (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1975) is collected separately as the US first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The Collins first edition, published in London on 8 September 1975, is bound in black cloth lettered in silver on the spine, with pictorial endpaper maps of the 'General area of Hobs End and Studley Constable' at front and rear — the quickest physical check for this edition
- The dust jacket illustration is by Barry Glynn, with the price present at the flap; first printings carry the 1975 first-publication statement with no later impressions noted on the title verso
- Publisher imprint reads Collins
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Jack Higgins |
| Publisher | Collins |
| Year | 1975 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The Collins first edition, published in London on 8 September 1975, is bound in black cloth lettered in silver on the spine, with pictorial… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The Collins first edition, published in London on 8 September 1975, is bound in black cloth lettered in silver on the spine, with pictorial endpaper maps of the 'General area of Hobs End and Studley Constable' at front and rear — the quickest physical check for this edition. The dust jacket illustration is by Barry Glynn, with the price present at the flap; first printings carry the 1975 first-publication statement with no later impressions noted on the title verso.

## Is this the true first?
True first is the UK Collins edition (London, 8 September 1975); the same-year first American edition (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1975) is collected separately as the US first. UK precedence is confirmed by the sources consulted.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club tell for the Collins edition is documented in the sources consulted; any later-impression statement marks a reprint. US club hardcovers of the Holt text exist and should be checked for the publisher's trade imprint and priced jacket.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Eagle Has Landed* by Jack Higgins a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-eagle-has-landed
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.