
When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II Books Details/Info
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (December 2, 2014)
Language: English
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (December 2, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0544535022
ISBN-13: 978-0544535022
Product Dimensions: 1 x 5 x 7 inches
The image of the Berlin book burning in May of 1933 is a common photo
in history books. What’s less common is how books became a strategy to
undermine the Nazi propaganda that had been proving surprisingly
effective throughout Europe. While re-telling the history of the war,
Manning threads through the impact that books had in fighting the Nazis,
providing a narrative of their influence on the war that has previously
been left out of most history books. Book lovers and history buffs
should enjoy this new perspective. Read online When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II book now.
When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II Books Review
I don’t usually read this kind of book, to be honest. My ideal
reading is under a palm tree and something trashy with great characters
and a world that draws me in. However, something about this subject
caught my eye. Perhaps it was the fact that my father fought in WW II
and I still remember his trunk in the attic, filled with clothes,
canteens, and yes, books. And the photo on the cover of a soldier
reading with rapt attention on top of a fox hole drew me in — what DID
they do before iPhones and the internet to pass the time? This was an
era where at the beginning of the war, according to the book, they
didn’t even have proper uniforms and tents, much less books and
magazines to read, something that today I’m guessing would be taken for
granted.
“Book are weapons in the war of ideas” was the slogan of a council
formed in March 1942 with the objective of “exploring how books could
serve the nation during the war” and that is a fundamental theme of this
book, from the first chapter which describes the Nazi book burnings in
Germany (and the American response) to the final chapter that speaks of
the importance of reading to the service men’s re-entry into society
post-war and interest in furthering their education based in part on
their love of reading acquired during the war. Also interesting was the
way the program evolved from book donation drives for soldiers (which
resulted in a lot of books on cooking and knitting going to the troops)
to then a custom-printed campaign of books and magazines to provide
exactly what the soldiers were wanting to read, not just what people
were willing to donate. Get online When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II today.
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