During my childhood, many fathers in the neighborhood were World War II veterans. True to the stereotype, they shared little about their wartime experiences. Insights emerged indirectly. My best friend’s father, an Air Force veteran from China, taught us how to say “hot water” in Mandarin. Another Army veteran disclosed that he had burned his uniform after returning home, which puzzled us. My own father, a Navy veteran, mentioned “funny paperbacks” from the war era. It wasn’t until researching my book on The Great Gatsby that I understood my father was among the millions in the ‘biggest book giveaway in history.’ When the U.S. entered World War II, there was a push to provide books to servicemen to alleviate boredom. However, the books needed to be light and small for easy transport in pockets.
This challenge was faced by the Council on Books in Wartime, composed of publishers, librarians, and booksellers. Their mission contrasted Nazi book burnings that started in 1933. The Council’s motto, “Books Are Weapons in the War of Ideas,” emphasized an American program for servicemen that implicitly affirmed the freedom to read diverse literature. The hero of this endeavor was Col. Ray Trautman. In Molly Guptill Manning’s forthcoming book, A Librarian’s War, due in September, Trautman’s idea of producing books specifically for troops is detailed. These Armed Services Editions (ASEs), known colloquially as “funny paperbacks,” originated from his idea.
The ASEs, printed on pulp paper, began production in 1943. By 1947, nearly 123 million books had been distributed to U.S. troops. The greatest distribution occurred on the eve of D-Day. Soldiers carried ASEs in landing crafts, and among the popular titles was Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. The Council’s selection committee was diverse in its choices, not restricted to presumed troop favorites. Popular genres included cowboy stories, Tarzan tales, and suspense fiction. A notable title was Forever Amber, a historical romance by Kathleen Winsor. Among the 1,322 titles were Moby Dick, biographies of Frederick Douglass and Queen Victoria, essays by Lincoln and Emerson, and poetry collections by Longfellow, Keats, and Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Although ASEs primarily featured works by white authors, efforts occurred to ban some books. Manning’s A Librarian’s War narrates pre-1944 election attempts to purge ASEs indirectly favoring President Roosevelt. Criticism emerged nationwide, with newspapers publishing editorials and letters decrying these bans. Troop awareness led to protests. Manning highlights a soldier’s letter comparing bans to Hitler’s early actions. Pushback prevailed, ensuring soldiers maintained reading freedom.
For those anticipating A Librarian’s War, other informative books include Manning’s earlier work, When Books Went to War, and a Library of Congress volume, Books in Action. My Library of Congress visit in 2012 explored how F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby regained popularity post-1940. ASE publication in 1945 featured 155,000 copies distributed to servicemen. The Library of Congress, a national repository, possesses the complete ASE collection. Access is open to applicants. Holding one of these books offers a profound experience of its enduring service.