Books in Action the Armed Services Edition

by John Young Cole

The Armed Services Editions introduced thousands of American soldiers and sailors to the pleasures of reading between 1943 and 1947. This book details the history of these editions, gives a bibliography, and a list of the titles.

78 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1984

Reviews

[James Crabtree · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, composed of three short essays and a list of titles by author, looks at the books produced during WWII (and immediately afterward) as small paperback editions. These book titles were picked for their value in entertaining and educating GIs overseas. The titles include Robert Benchley stories, Zane Gray westerns to Selected Stories of Mark Twain. In many cases, soldiers claimed that these books provided them the first opportunity to really get to know good literature.

This book is a slim volume but if you are interested in this topic it is the best place to start.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A succint history of the Armed Services Editions, which had a profound effect on promoting reading, literature, and education on US soldiers and sailors during WWII. Also had an impact on the normlization of paperback publishing in the United States.

An interesting, fast read.

[SDAntoNia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is both easy to find and well worth reading it's very short and it's a good reminder of the good that governments can do, even during a major world war.