Ep 4 – The Armed Services Paperback

In this episode, we look at the history of the Armed Service Edition (ASE) paperbacks made specifically for American soldiers fighting in World War II.  The background of America’s response to Nazi book burnings, the formation of various groups to provide soldiers with reading material, and the final creation of the group that would select, edit, produce, and send over 100 million ASE paperbacks to soldiers all over the world are covered in this episode of the Paperback Show. The impact of this program was profound not only for the soldiers but also on post-war American society and culture. There’s also a short section on “recent paperbacks” in the podcast where we cover some of the most interesting paperbacks we’ve read recently.

The primary source of information for this podcast is from the book When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II” by  Molly Guptill Manning. This engrossing and well-researched book chronicles the story of the ASE from the start of the Nazi book burnings in 1933 to the closing of the program in 1947. 

Be sure to see our Armed Service Editions cover gallery for book scans. If you want to know more about collecting ASE’s check out this article by the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America. 

Episode 4 Show Notes

• Link to book at Molly Mannings author website:  https://www.mollymanning.com/author/books/when-books-went-to-war/

• Molly Manning speech at Library of Congress on When Books Went to War: https://youtu.be/x8vTu-j35ls

• ASE covers source links: https://www.library.unlv.edu/whats_new_in_special_collections/2019/06/armed-services-editions-footnote-d-day.html

• History.net article on ASE. https://www.historynet.com/armed-services-editions-a-few-square-inches-of-home/

• A complete list of ASE’s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Armed_Services_Editions

• University of Virginia Online Exhibit: Books Go to War. University of Virginia Library Online Exhibits | Books Go to War: The Armed Services Editions in World War Two

• SUNY TV Interview with Molly Manning. https://youtu.be/mSf02UXgkM0

• A marvelous, short introduction to the ASE from the City of Little Rock