A Doll's Leg: The Story of a War Injury - Yaacov Haelyon
A Doll's Leg: The Story of a War Injury
A Poignant, Deeply Human Memoir of Survival, Military Injury, and Triumphant Rehabilitation
A Poignant, Deeply Human Memoir of Survival, Military Injury, and Triumphant Rehabilitation
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: A Doll's Leg: The Story of a War Injury
- Author: Yaacov Haelyon
- Translator: Louis Williams
- Publisher: John Malherbe Pty Ltd, Cape Town
- Publication Date: 1 January 1974
- ISBN-10: 0869660802
- ISBN-13: 9780869660805
- Edition Details: First English Edition, First Printing. Standard Hardcover Release.
- Binding: Original publisher’s premium cloth boards, lettered on spine, housed in the original illustrated dust jacket.
- Physical Format: Octavo (8vo), 221 pages.
- Language: English (Translated from the original Hebrew text).
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Very Good Plus (VG+)
- Exterior / Cloth Boards: The cloth-covered boards remain in an excellent state of preservation, being exceptionally flat, square, and structurally rigid. The spine architecture is perfect, firm, uncreased, and entirely free of unseemly lean or structural cracking.
- Interior: The text block is robustly bound, tight, and completely square. Internal pages are beautifully clean, clear, crisp, and intact, showing no signs of foxing, user underlinings, highlighting, or dog-ears.
- Preservation: Upgraded with a professional, archival-grade removable cellophane cover to insulate the binding from dust and handling wear.
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The Dust Jacket: Very Good (VG)
- Condition: The original illustrated jacket is complete, displaying only slight, standard signs of minor edge wear and light handling wrinkles along the upper perimeter. It is entirely unclipped and free from aggressive amateur tape repairs.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Originally written in Hebrew and published in this scarce English translation in 1974 by Cape Town's John Malherbe, A Doll's Leg is a profoundly moving, visceral memoir of trauma and human resilience. The book chronicles the real-life ordeal of Yaacov Haelyon, an Israeli soldier who was catastrophically injured during the 1967 Six-Day War.
Originally written in Hebrew and published in this scarce English translation in 1974 by Cape Town's John Malherbe, A Doll's Leg is a profoundly moving, visceral memoir of trauma and human resilience. The book chronicles the real-life ordeal of Yaacov Haelyon, an Israeli soldier who was catastrophically injured during the 1967 Six-Day War.
Haelyon masterfully pulls back the curtain on the insular, complex world of the war-wounded, blending heartbreaking chapters of physical tribulation and tears with unexpected layers of sharp wit, humour, and laughter. Crucially, this narrative achieved monumental historical significance during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir famously arranged for copies of Haelyon's poignant memoir to be distributed directly to hospitalized and serving Israeli soldiers to foster psychological fortitude, solidarity, and hope. Operating as an exceptional human document of triumph over disability, this rare South African-printed first edition is a vital cornerstone acquisition for serious collectors of modern military history, Middle Eastern studies, medical sociology, and scarce twentieth-century biographical Judaica.
Author Profile: Yaacov Haelyon
Yaacov Haelyon (1937–2021) was an influential Israeli journalist, soldier, and author. Severely wounded in battle while serving his country, his painstaking physical rehabilitation became a beacon of resilience within the Israeli consciousness. Following his recovery, Haelyon established a highly distinguished multi-decade career as a premier journalist and cultural commentator for major regional publications, including the respected daily newspaper Maariv. His writing remains widely praised for its raw emotional honesty, narrative clarity, and unmatched capacity to humanize the heavy personal costs of conflict.
Yaacov Haelyon (1937–2021) was an influential Israeli journalist, soldier, and author. Severely wounded in battle while serving his country, his painstaking physical rehabilitation became a beacon of resilience within the Israeli consciousness. Following his recovery, Haelyon established a highly distinguished multi-decade career as a premier journalist and cultural commentator for major regional publications, including the respected daily newspaper Maariv. His writing remains widely praised for its raw emotional honesty, narrative clarity, and unmatched capacity to humanize the heavy personal costs of conflict.
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