• When Books Went to War

  • The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II
  • By: Molly Guptill Manning
  • Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
  • Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (289 ratings)

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When Books Went to War  By  cover art

When Books Went to War

By: Molly Guptill Manning
Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
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Publisher's summary

When America entered World War II in 1941, we faced an enemy that had banned and burned over 100 million books and caused fearful citizens to hide or destroy many more. Outraged librarians launched a campaign to send free books to American troops and gathered 20 million hardcover donations. In 1943, the War Department and the publishing industry stepped in with an extraordinary program: 120 million small, lightweight paperbacks for troops to carry in their pockets and their rucksacks in every theater of war.

Comprising 1,200 different titles of every imaginable type, these paperbacks were beloved by the troops and are still fondly remembered today. Soldiers read them while waiting to land at Normandy, in hellish trenches in the midst of battles in the Pacific, in field hospitals, and on long bombing flights. They wrote to the authors, many of whom responded to every letter. They helped rescue The Great Gatsby from obscurity. They made Betty Smith, author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, into a national icon. When Books Went to War is an inspiring story for history buffs and book lovers alike.

©2014 Molly Guptill Manning (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about When Books Went to War

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Informed and delightful Reading

This book was absolutely inspirational and incredibly informative. I am delighted at how much I learned and enjoyed my experience. I came away with so many more books to read. But, I have a renewed appreciation for books, and for our librarians who helped campaign for books for our service members. I was impressed with the difference it made for the individual soldiers and their lives following combat. (Also thanks to the G.I. Bill) Books gave the service members the courage and confidence to go to the University following the war. I loved that they shared with the English soldiers who weren’t as book wealthy as our American boys. Added insights I learned about the war were especially important to me as well. I have an interest in learning about the world wars. Finally, the censorship battle that ensued within our own country was as frustrating to learn about as interesting. Learning this strengthened my resolve to keep reading and encouraging all within my sphere of influence to read.
The last line in the book was absolutely perfect. Our troops were given more books than the Nazi’s burned. How’s that for the war on ideas?

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6 people found this helpful

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Movie, Please

My husband and I found this to be a fascinating and, to us, previously unknown chapter of WWII history. Sincere thanks to Molly Manning for her excellent work. We have visited many a WWII museum and yet knew nothing of this, and have never seen an ASE on display. Would love to see this story told by a skilled cinematographer like Ken Burns.

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Excellent Informative Listen

I love books, and the push to provide WWII armed forces good reading material was born on my birthday: 12 January 1942, just after Pearl Harbor, as my mother reminded me often. There she was in Los Angeles with a big tummy finally after losing one child already. And people on the mainland were terrified that the Japanese might fly on over and bomb us also! I enjoyed how the story refers to our fighting men affectionately as "boys" and we get the spirit of the times before mobile phones and Internet. Ms. Manning tells how the special edition volumes were named, so that collectors can be oriented in their search. She describes all the study and reasoning and preparation to produce the first paperbacks! For me the most interesting and relevant part was at election time when censorship became a question. Had Roosevelt been in office too long, and what kind of material should the fighting men be reading, and then how would they vote? A well-meant struggle ensued. I was in the USAF and overseas in the 1960's. We got a lot of popular publications at the Stars & Stripes Newsstand, but what else was going on, I wondered. My dad sent me alternative little newspapers he considered important. Recently I read somewhere that a certain kind of news coverage was going out to our military in the present times -- and little else, which that writer thought would not give our voting troops adequate insight into the country's politics. Ooh, let's not call it propaganda! And the book discusses the effect of enemy radio broadcasts designed to drag down troop morale. We are treated to a picture of tired and filthy troops who perhaps finished high school totally immersed in some great classic and enjoying it very much. It is so refreshing to hear about a war in which a truly all-out 100% effort was made. That's why I didn't get rubber pants! . . . Really good book!

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Books were the most important item soldiers needed during wwii?

When books went to war is about the U.S. government’s effort to bring books to American soldiers during World War Two and why this was important. Using books as both a leisure activity and a means of escape, books become a valuable item for U.S. soldiers to get. Author Molly Guptill Manning chronicles how organizations ended up gathering and collecting books for them and the politics that sometimes got in the way.
Manning also adds a little too much information at times, for example we don’t need a detailed explanation of the Normandy landings but this book is short, so it shouldn’t brother anyone. Manning also goes beyond the battlefield and explains how the impact of reading during the war served not just as a recreation activity but also as propaganda against Axis material and how reading during the war affected postwar society. Excellent book to read or listen to.

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Fascinating

This book delves into the impact Books had on US soldiers during WWII. It details how the idea of sending books over to the soldiers came to be. It describes how the effort of librarians, book publishers and the armed services working together got the books printed and published in a format that soldiers could carry them in their back pockets. It also includes personal stories on how having books to read impacted soldiers, many of whom weren't regular readers. The narrator did a great job in keeping the story interesting without overwhelming the listener to a variety of voices which weren't needed. Well worth the read!

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Perfect for the bibliophile and/or history reader

I love war histories and of course WWII, but this particularly story hits me pretty deeply. As an educator and a lifelong reader, I felt inspired beginning to end.

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Herculean effort and societal impact

Well researched! I had no idea how this genius idea was brought to fruition first by librarians, then funded by the military and facilitated by a coalition of publishers. It did so much more than combat book burning. It created a generation of readers of quality works, mass produced and portable, that later went on to college under the new GI bill.

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Great new slant on WWII history

I have read a lot of WWII history books, but this one provides a fresh perspective regarding the role books played in the war (on both sides). I loved the excerpts from actual letters and learning about what books were the most popular with the troops. The various political machinations that were going on at the time were quite interesting as well. Really good book for those who like book and/or WWII history.

The narrator did a great job- clear, easy to understand, easy to listen to, but not boring.

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Intriguing view of WW2 and the impact of books on our service men and women.

This was a different viewpoint of the war than other historical novels-one that I had not seen before. Very interesting!

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A must read for every citizen!!

The book itself, the narrator was excellent, easy to listen to that did not take away from the written material.

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