Hello,
My review of Molly Guptill Mannings's "When Books Went To War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War 2" will be at the end of this blog. First I want to share some of the details I discovered while I read this book. But so far I've loved this book, it's so amazing how much books helped in the World War 2 victory. Thanks to all of those that did all that hard work to make the lives of those engaged in the war effort just a bit easier and more enjoyable.
Note: I've paraphrased and directly quoted a lot from Manning's book- blame all mistakes on me.
I'd like to thank NetGalley.com and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for granting me early access to read this book. Sadly I didn't take full advantage of that so I would like to thank Davis County (Utah) Library System for having this book available to check out.
On May 10th, 1933 German students made their way to the Bebelplatz. Over 80,000 people were gathered to behold a sure to be spectacular sight. From "When Books Went To War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War 2": In the center of the Bebelplatz, a massive pyre of crossed logs, twelve feet long and five feet high, awaited. As the first revelers arrived, they threw their torches onto this particular structure. Blue flames shot skyward. It was a breathtaking sight. Soon the skeleton of logs erupted into a glowing mass of fire."
The number of books burned is unknown, but safe to say it was probably in the thousands. Books by authors such as Freud, Emil Ludwig (who wrote books about Napoleon and Bismarck) and Erich Maria Remarque ("All Quiet On The Western Front") were burned for such things as 'high treason against Germany" and "denigrating the German language and the nation's ideals".
Some sobering stats from this book:
- "By 1938, the Nazis had banned eighteen categories of books, 4,175 titles and the complete works of 565 authors, many of whom were Jewish."
- Hitler created the Einsaztstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR). "In Eastern Europe the ERR burned a staggering 375 archives, 402 museums, 531 institutes and 957 libraries".
- "It is estimated that the Nazis destroyed half of all books in Czechoslovakia and Poland, and fifty-five million tomes in Russia."
- "Nazis had banned and burned more than 100 million books and caused fearful citizens to hide or destroy many more."
Indeed while America was doing what it could to collect book for soldiers the Nazi's were in a book burning mode. There's a monument in Berlin's Bebelplatz that commemorates the Nazi book burnings of 1933. From Manning's book: "Set into the plaza's cobblestones is a glass plate covering a subterranean room lined with empty bookshelves." I love the symbolism of that.
"When Books Went To War" starts out with a excerpt from a soldier's letter to author Betsy Smith about how her book "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn" has helped deal with the bad things of World War 2. That was likely one of the 120 million free books given out to soldiers and then passed from hand to hand, even as the books got more and more battered.
We learn a lot about how much effort the USA put into getting ready for WW2, including drafting people before building the structures they used for military training. These books were called Armed Service Editions (ASE). Explained how the books were made, their influence and how much joy they brought to GIs shivering in their foxholes. One of my favorite lines in the book: Americans "marched toward victory in Europe in 1945, they were carrying tens of thousands of copies of titles that were forbidden in the lands they walked on."
Details about the American Library Association's goal to collect 10 million books via the National Defense Book Campaign (NDBC) in 1942. Some of the important names in this whole process included Althea Warren. She was the first person hired to run this campaign, but she could only take 4 months from her job. So she gave her all in the 4 months she had. Following the Pearl Harbor attacks, the campaign was renamed the Victory Book Campaign. Warren was replaced by close friend John Connor. In April, 1942 book donations had reached 6.6 million volumes. Another key name is Marie Loizeaux, who served as the publicity director for this campaign.
But it wasn't enough so President Roosevelt made a VBC declaration. The efforts of common people and celebrities made a noticeable impact. Almost 9 million volumes had been collected by the end of April, 1942. Books were great as they were relatively cheap, small, portable and helped soldiers while away a lot of hours of boredom.
"Within one month of the ninth anniversary of the Berlin book burning, another million books were collected by the VBC." Despite pressure the VBC didn't back down and allow excessive censorship of these books. Many people noted the irony of that.
The book later mentions how later Armed Services Editions (ASE) helped soldiers who were preparing to land on Normandy Beach on June 6th, 1944. Books were created to be easy on soldiers eyes in poor lighting and obviously stressful conditions. In fact when "The Great Gatsby" was first released it was considered a flop. "But when this book was printed as an ASE in October, 1945, it won the hearts of an army of men. Their praise reverberated back home, and "The Great Gatsby" was rescued from obscurity and since has become an American literary classic."
Also later Overseas Editions were used to bring back books to where Nazism had briefly ruled. These books and programs also helped lead to the GI Bill, that helped hundreds of thousands of veterans get free educations.
This book is a very solid look into the Armed Service Editions and similar programs of World War 2. The book was just about the perfect length, there was already a bit too much repetition. I loved how Manning reminded us of WW2 history as she wrote about the ASEs and how the two worked together. I would definitely recommend this book to lovers of history and fans of reading worldwide. The power of the written word was powerful back then and still serves as a powerful force today. Thanks to Molly Guptil Manning for sharing this fascinating history.
themusicaddict
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