During World War II, the American Book Association cooperated with the U.S. military to implement the "Military Books" project: providing small and lightweight paperbacks for the U.S. military. By the end of World War II, a total of 1,200 titles and 120 million military-issued books were born. These books provided precious spiritual food for the U.S. military, helped the United States win wars, made a number of books such as The Great Gatsby become American classics, and promoted the paperback revolution in the publishing industry.
small book for soldiers
During World War II, American publishers were faced with a daunting task: producing a book suitable for mass production under strict control. Because of the quota restrictions on the paper used for printing, publishers received only 37.5% of the paper quota in 1943 of 1939. However, the government has made books a necessary weapon and finally agreed to provide 900 tons of paper a quarter for printing books for the military.
To maximize the number of books and ensure that military-issued books are suitable for service members, the American Book Association uses new design and production techniques. First, paperbacks are printed to save space and weight, making them soft and easier to tuck into pockets or backpacks. Second, reduce the size of the book. The larger size of the military edition is 6.5 by 4.5 inches, similar to the popular paperbacks sold in grocery stores; the smaller size is 5.5 by 3.75 inches. The association has studied the pocket sizes of standard uniforms to ensure that large military-issued books can fit in soldiers' trouser pockets, even books up to 512 pages thick can fit in the back pockets of the trousers, and small ones can be tucked into the soldier's chest pocket. pockets.
Selected Topics for Military Edition Books
Initially, the Departments of the War and the Navy asked the Association to provide 50 titles per month, 50,000 of each, for a total of 2.5 million. By July 1943, when the Society signed a contract with the Army, Army, and Air Force, it was reduced to 30 titles per month, as printing and editing challenges were prohibitive.
Three-quarters of the program is focused on topic selection. First, publishers select the books that service members need. Next, the Society's reading group narrowed down the selection by offering its views on the strengths and weaknesses of each book. Finally, government approval was obtained through a review by Lieutenant Colonel Toddman, who represented the military, and Isabel Dubois, head of the Naval Library Service.
When selecting books, the main consideration is variety to suit each soldier's reading taste. The most popular genre is contemporary fiction, accounting for about 20%, followed by historical fiction, mystery fiction, humorous stories, and western fiction. Other genres include adventure stories, biographies, comics, classics, news, fantasy, history, music , nature, poetry, science, sailing stories, self-help, inspirational books, short story collections, and travel journals.
The military edition books spread quickly and are forever loved by people, and even spread back to the rear. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" was thus selected from the obscurity and became a classic of American literature in one fell swoop.
"Should be awarded the Distinguished Service Medal"
Leo Roston's "The Education of Hyman Kaplan" was the first military-issued book to receive numerous "moving, even 'heartbroken'" letters from soldiers. One of those letters remained in his mind, even forty years later:
I want to thank you deeply, for myself, and more importantly, for those who live in the unfortunate parts of this earth people. During the day we live in a pan of oil, and at night we live in an ice cave. What are we doing around the Persian Gulf...all our...recreation is a ping pong table - and only one racket.
Last week, we received your book on Kaplan. I read it and couldn't get enough of it. As an experiment, I read the book by the campfire one night. People laughed. I haven't heard a laugh like this in months...
When the first batch of military-supplied books arrived at the War and Navy Departments in September 1943, the military's top brass was ecstatic. The War Department immediately asked the association to increase the number of books published each month. In January 1944, military edition books were sent to even the most remote places: Guadalcanal, Bora Bora, and other small islands in the South Pacific.
Although the authors of the military-supplied books received letters from the military, the association received little feedback. To this end, Stanley Reinhart of Farrer Reinhardt wrote to his friend Charles Rollins, a war correspondent for the Saturday Evening Post, asking if he could discuss the progress of the project. The situation provides some news. In June 1944, almost nine months after the first military editions were sent to the War and Admiralty, Rollins wrote him back from his outpost in Australia: "No one told you publishers, Are these soft, slender little books doing something? I tell you, you should be awarded the Distinguished Service Medal!"
"These books were sent to the front line bent, broken, and wet. Because they always It was pulled out to read. I saw soldiers take them on Hollandia Beach for three days. In these desperate swamps, they rolled their trousers to hip height. But, it was They, defending captured Japanese planes, fending off loot snatchers, or staying in their sleeping bags at coastal camps, dazed after dinner...reading a book."
Books become the spiritual support of soldiers
All who have experienced combat are terrified of the brutality of war. Over time, the mental and emotional baggage that has built up has few outlets, and many are reluctant to even confide it to their families. However, books provided a channel for soldiers to vent.
Katherine Anne Porter is an unlikely writer to gain widespread attention. Her short stories deftly expose intimate, deeply personal experiences and emotions that make readers feel like she understands their inner thoughts and emotions. Thousands of soldiers wrote to her after reading her military editions, some saying the descriptions could be linked to certain actual characters; Loneliness and isolation are washed away. These soldiers told the writer many things they had not told their relatives.
"There's a Tree in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith is perhaps the most popular of all the military editions. The book tells a vivid childhood story that many believe Smith wrote about his own childhood. Smith's collection of essays Who Sacrifice? , which personalizes the story of casualties in the D-Day invasion. Smith has been constantly receiving letters from around the world, soldiers thanking her for the effect her work has had on them.
The Society has received some interesting letters describing the entanglement of reading and warfare. A soldier wrote from Luxembourg: "Just climbed out of my damp, muddy cover trench to get some fresh air that didn't belong in America, because we knew that in a few minutes we would have to do a backflip and a half. Dive back to avoid the German rain of death." Earlier, as soon as a new round of shells came in his direction, he retreated "into the deep-dug, thick-roofed fort, where After a frantic prayer, I began to read the military-supplied book with the help of a U.S. military torch - "C/O Postmaster" by Thomas R. St. George. "The corporal's experience has put me in good spirits," he said, despite the sound of death resounding in the air.
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