Nazi's Shakespeare gift to fetch £5,000

A unique copy of Shakespeare's Hamlet which was given to an actor by the Nazi leader Hermann Goering is expected to fetch up to £5,000 when it goes under the hammer this month.

The book, published in Leipzig in 1913, is said to be a "very rare" item in its own right, but also bears a signed dedication from Goering to Gustaf Grundgens, a famous German actor. Goering, then the commander of Hitler's Luftwaffe, is believed to have given the book to Grundgens as a present on Christmas Eve 1934.

The play, which has been translated into German, will be offered for sale at an auction of historical documents at Ludlow Racecourse in Shropshire on 30 September.