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Armed Services Editions, small-format paperbacks distributed to us military men during World War II, are credited with a great achievement: not only improving morale among troops, but also revolutionize the post-WWII environment. war publishing industry, turning certain books into classics and expanding the American middle class. The book When Books Went to War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II, by Molly Guptill Manning, reveals the largely forgotten history of military publishing.
You are reading: Armed services edition books
when the united states entered the war after pearl harbor, librarians initially got behind a national book drive, the victory book drive, whose goal was to collect 10 million donated books and give them to the troops. although this campaign was ultimately successful, it took time, and many of the donated books were too old or heavy to be of use. a group of publishers banded together to form the Wartime Book Council and resolved to produce a series of lightweight, durable books reprinting popular novels and classics that would be of interest to soldiers, sailors, and aviators serving their country.
The format was innovative: paperback, stapled (then glued) on the short side, and printed small in two columns to fit more words on a page and make it easier to read under battlefield conditions. the covers were thumbnails of the original hardcover cover image, and contained lists of the other ase titles released that month. the books were initially printed in two sizes, both designed to fit into soldiers’ pockets.
This example of davy crockett by constance rourke shows the stapled center along the short edge and double column printing.
Although some were initially skeptical about the durability of paperbacks (hardcovers were the norm before the war), aces were gratefully passed from soldier to soldier, and were so prized that the military they felt “that throwing one in the trash can is equivalent to hitting your grandmother”. The format was a huge success, both financially and practically, and was adopted by publishers on both sides of the Atlantic after the war in the face of continued paper rationing.
troops loved aces, and one sailor reported that a man was considered “out of uniform if one didn’t stick out of the back pocket.” books provided access to emotions that were in short supply during the war: humor, love, compassion, hope, tenderness. novels like a tree grows in brooklyn by betty smith and chicken every sunday by rosemary taylor allowed men to imagine that they were home for a brief time; others like strange fruit by lilian smith and forever amber by kathleen winsor provided an erotic charge; while many others sought to educate on foreign policy, the reasons for the war, or the countries the troops were fighting to liberate. (An incredulous Marine began reading Herman Melville’s typee out of boredom, and was delighted to discover that “that guy wrote about three islands he’d been to!”). As the war drew to a close, instructional books on recycling for post-war industry, college attendance, and re-entry into civilian life were added to the mix.
Ace covers displayed a thumbnail image of the hardcover.
The authors received hundreds of letters from troops during the war, and beyond, reporting how grateful they were to read certain things and how the books had affected them. wallace stegner even ended up with a lot of gis going back to their classes at stanford because they had read the big candy mountain like an ace. For many men who hadn’t read a book since high school, the impact of their monthly book allowance was life-changing. the aces formed a lifelong reading habit for many and changed their perspective on education. reading a book no longer seemed like a difficult or boring chore, and when gi law made a college education available to many, a generation of men was ready to take advantage of it: grow the middle class and make possible the boom in consumer goods. postwar period. .
do you collect editions of the armed forces?
abaa member james dourgarian has compiled an ace finding index on his website…
manning’s book is fascinating because it goes far beyond the story of how the aces came to be and how various production and distribution problems were solved. The author paints the larger political scene in Washington and provides great insight into how the larger debates surrounding the war impacted the ASE show, and vice versa. The books briefly became a political hot potato like Senator Robert A. Taft attempted to prevent the military from voting in the 1944 presidential election (it was thought that they would overwhelmingly vote for Roosevelt, as they probably eventually did) by censoring the books that were part of the ASE program. The Wartime Book Council cleverly mobilized editorialists across the country, who attacked Congress, comparing the proposed censorship to Nazi book burnings and condemning America’s use of such tactics. the idea of censoring books sent to troops abroad was political dynamite, since by this time most families were well aware of the value of books for morale and mental health. When reporters heard Taft admit that it was an attempt to prevent soldiers from voting for Roosevelt, he fell out of favor and the law was quickly rewritten.
aces provided an escape from even the harshest conditions.
It’s also instructive to learn how the gi bill evolved in light of the educational value of aces and how British publishers adopted the popular paperback design to reinvigorate their industry after six years of war.
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Looking at the published ace lists, it’s fascinating to see which novels subsequently sank into obscurity and which were catapulted into canon status by being so widely read. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby was an ace, and its postwar rise to status as a great American novel is partly attributed to this. a tree growing in brooklyn remains an american classic, while once-popular books like chicken every sunday and strange fruit, and authors like katherine anne porter and war correspondent ernie pyle are relatively unknown outside of circles scholars and book collectors.
lachez les bombes
ny, foreign editions, n.d. (c.1944), first edition, wrappers. soft cover. although published in the u. s., this is the first edition of bombs away in french, the overseas edition series was a cousin of the armed forces editions issued to soldiers during and shortly after world war ii, includes steinbeck’s unpublished preface (also in French) written especially for this book. (provided by james m. dourgarian, bookman)
As collectibles, Aces aren’t particularly hard to come by, although some titles are more elusive than others. while the books themselves may not be as collectible as first editions or signed copies, the history of military editions is remarkable, and knowing what individual volumes have likely been through, some of your favorite novels or authors will enrich any collection. .
Also, while younger generations may roll their eyes at their leather-bound incunabula printed in a foreign language, they are often intrigued by these colorful books that were part of the greatest war our planet has ever seen. ever met: a vital part of the war, according to Manning, and offer a gateway, if not to a life of collecting, then at least to an understanding of his fascination with rare books.
The wartime motto of the book council was “books are weapons in the war of ideas.”
Anyone who wants to know more about collecting aces should check out abaa member james dourgarian‘s article on armed services editions, which originally appeared in firsts magazine in 2001 dourgarian specializes in aces (among other things) and was one of the experts manning turned to while writing his book. dourgarian’s website contains a very useful index of all aces both by author and by number.
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When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning is published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
photos (c) molly guptill manning
a selection of the armed forces editions currently offered by abaa members:
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for the raven, carl
New York: Editions for the Armed Services, 1944. 351p., worn wraps, some abrasion to edges of spine; paper evenly toned. Armed Forces Edition of the popular work by the longtime China-based author.
offered by bolerium books.
Is sex necessary?
by white, e. b.; thurber, james
New York: Armed Services, Inc, 1944. First Edition. Wraps. Very Good. E. B. White’s third book, and one co-authored with James Thurber who also provided the illustrations. First published in 1929, this edition was reprinted on numerous occasions. This unabridged edition was published by the Armed Services in 1944 with the number identifier M-2 [Hall A3]. Armed Services, Inc. reprinted it again in 1946 but with the number identifier #1016. From the Estate of Joel (1930-1997) & Allene White. Second Printing, 1946. 128 pp. 32mo. Light wear and scuffing to covers, sunning to spine. Armed Services Edition #1016.
offered by craft books & binding.
the lady of the lake
by raymond chandler
new york : editions for the armed services, inc., [1945].. eighth oblong, pictorial wrappers. first paperback edition. armed forces #838. hard mystery novel with philip marlowe. broccoli a4.3. some light scuffing on the edges, banged back top corner, almost good copy. a clear, unread copy.
provided by l.w. curry.
the case of the black-eyed blonde
by erle stanley gardner
new york [approx. 1944]. Armed Forces First Edition, no. s-21. 3 3/4″ x 5 1/2″. original printed colored pictorial wrappers. very good (spine discolored). 320 pages. no signatures or ex libris. the text is gilded due to the quality of the paper.
offered by houle rare book & autographs
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