When Books Went to War

I had no idea about the impact of books during the WW2, nor did I realize the changes in production during this time.Very interesting microhistory.

I was pretty excited to read When Books Went to War, because I love mass-market paperbacks. Getting books in the hands of as many people as possible is dope. The Armed Service Editions played a massive role in genre fiction history. Unfortunately, this book was a little light on meat and potatoes, and a little heavy on gushing testimonials about the program. Still, the story itself is a valuable one. Whatever caveats I might have about its lack of weightiness, When Books Went to War is still a digestible and engaging read.

The story of how books won WWII is one that I had not known about. Previously, I knew that American GIs went into combat with a number of personal objects, but I never imagined that I would find out that one of those objects, The Great Gatsby would become one of my favorite books of all time. This text tells the story of how books came to help the American soldiers during WWII, and how this later affected the US post-victory. It tells it with striking clarity and speed, making me want to find a list of the books that were read by servicemen and read them myself. This books only problem is that it only mentions the women who worked in WWII on the front lines in passing. I would hvae liked to see more from them about how books affected them in their service as well as the men on the front lines. Overall, however, it is a book that I want to read again and will suggest to everyone who like books and WWII. I give it a five out of five.