I don’t often read a lot of historical-themed nonfiction, but my book club always tackles one a year. This year, we read When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning.
This was a fascinating book about WWII and the Armed Services Editions of books that librarians and publishers from the USA made sure went overseas for soldiers to read in their down time. The result was a new generation of readers. Even soldiers who hadn’t been interested in reading before the war, fell in love with these paperback books. Fan letters from soldiers were written to authors, and some long-forgotten books like The Great Gatsby might never have become classics without finding this new audience. Over 100 million books were banned and burned in WWII, but this effort resulted in keeping literature alive.
If you’re interested in history, publishing, or just interesting facts, give this one a chance!
Tiffany Renee Harmon 