Episode 4 - The Armed Service Edition Paperback
In this episode, we look at the history of the Armed Service Edition (ASE) paperbacks which were made specifically for American soldiers fighting in World War II. There were over 100,000 million of these portable books sent to soldiers all over the world. The impact of this program was profound not only for the soldiers but on post-war American society and culture as well.
The background of America's response to Nazi book burnings, the formation of various groups to provide soldiers with reading material, and the final creation of the group that would select, edit, produce and send over 100 million ASE paperbacks to soldiers all over the world are covered in this episode of the Paperback Show. There's also a short section on "recent paperbacks" included in the podcast where we cover some of the most interesting paperbacks we've read recently.
Head over to paperbackshow.com for full show notes, links and a gallery of Armed Service Edition covers.
Head over to paperbackshow.com for full show notes, links and a gallery of Armed Service Edition covers.