This collection contains a sample of the paperbacks published under by the Armed Services Editions effort during World War II. The 129 titles comprises under ten percent of the 1322 titles published between 1943 and 1947, but it contains a representative sample of the variety of books sent to military personnel around the world, including classic world literature, American classic and popular fiction, mysteries, westerns, humor, history, science, and current events.

With the 1940 passage of the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, Congress established the first peacetime draft in United States history. Initially, those selected served for a period of twelve months. Following Pearl Harbor, and the subsequent declarations of war against Japan and Germany, service was extended to last through the duration of the war (with an additional six-month stint in the Organized Reserves). In all, between 1940-1946, over 10 million Americans would be drafted into the armed services.

136 items

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

There are no access restrictions on this collection.