Literature on the Frontlines: The History of Armed Services Edition Books
To combat the morale-sapping effects of boredom during World War II, a unique collaboration between government and private industry launched an effort to distribute almost 1.3 million books to American GI’s.
…What was needed were books that were small, compact, and could be carried in a soldier’s cargo pocket. Cheap, lightweight books that could be printed and distributed in mass quantities, read up, and left behind.
…The Council on Books in Wartime took up the project of turning this idea into reality. The council, whose motto was “books are weapons in the war of ideas,” was a non-profit organization made up of librarians, authors, booksellers, and publishers which had formed to utilize books as part of the war effort.
Thx, paulconstant!
betzistar
