Review of Molly Guptill’s When Books Went to War

Review of Molly Guptill’s When Books Went to War 

Introduction

 When Books Went to War is a book written by Molly Guptill Manning. The author has written other historical books that try to explain and give a preview of the past stories. She is a member of the Publication’s Board of Editors and has written for the Federal Bar Council Quarterly since 2012. In her book, Molly writes of the historical period during the Second World War. During this period, the American soldiers suffered loneliness and exhaustion in the battlefields. They needed things to help them unwind off from the events of war whenever they had free time. Others required encouragement and entertainment, which were rare commodities in the war front. Therefore, the American soldiers wrote to their commanders back home, requesting more books to give them the comfort they badly needed. Additionally, the topic revolves around how the American publishers and librarians rallied themselves to save books and give them a second chance from outraged destruction. Therefore, the title of the book When Books Went to War; The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II comes from the actions taken by American librarians and publishers to send books to the American soldiers on battlefields. The books had an impact on the soldiers as they gave them comfort and entertainment at wartime. The book in review pertains to the past, non-fiction, and war genre. It offers true tales and stories about World War II and what the American soldiers went through on their battlefield. The author uses an approach that commemorates a long-forgotten chapter in American publishing history to intrigue and triggers the role played by books at the war front. Also, the technique used reveals the emotions of the American servicemen such that they needed comfort, encouragement as well as entertainment even during wartime to help them go through the phase comfortably. The central theme is the role played by books during wartime on the American servicemen as well as the contributions of the American publishing community during the Second World War. 

Organization

 When Books Went to War is organized into a collection of short stories that are intriguing and captivating to read. For instance, chapter one comprises of a short story with the title ‘A Phoenix Will Rise’ that tries to explain the origin of books at war. Some years just before the Second World War, the Germans were banning and burning books that did not support their ideology and spirits. The Germans targeted paperwork from the Jewish authors. The move instilled fear among the citizens and made them destroy more books by burning. However, the joining of American fighting troops into World War II brought a revolution concerning books as the outraged librarians and publishers launched a campaign to send free books to their forces. Other chapters such as ‘A Landslide of Books,’ ‘Grab a Book, Joe and Keep Goin’, ‘German’s Surrender and the Godforsaken Islands’ follow-through sequentially and concisely outlining the events of the war. Besides, the collected short stories with capturing and thought-provoking titles from one chapter to the other are put together under one cover and title that sums them up. In my opinion, the author did an excellent job of organizing this book. She brought out the American publishing history well in her chapters and then coined them all into one book. Hence, she gives the reader a variety of stories with different tastes of World War II, all in one cover book. Molly was also generous in providing supportive arguments and documents at the end of her book in the form of appendixes, notes, illustration credits, and index to help the reader get a better understanding regarding her book. 

Strengths and Weaknesses

Molly did a commendable job by bringing out an unprecedented topic concerning American Publishing history (Manning, 2018). Many people know of World War II as the struggles, and awful experiences the servicemen and fighting troops went through till the end of the war. It is because almost all the authors writing about the Second World War choose to focus on other issues and sideline the role played by books, publishers, and librarians at that time. Therefore, the book provides a detailed preview of what the books had to do with World War II. Additionally, the book also outlines the power of literary works amidst the trails of war. For example, Molly gives a personal story from one of the mariners during the Second World War. According to the young marine serviceman, he wrote the author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn when hospitalized after reading the novel. He testified that the book gave him a new outlook on life and helped him recover from depression (Manning, 2014). He said that the power of the book gave him back his life and felt human again, whereby he would laugh, cry, and even smile, for it helped regain his emotional health. In this digital era, When Books Went to War reminds us of the significance of books in human life. It told us of the pre-digital period when people relied on books, articles, and letters for entertainment, encouragement, and even communication. According to Boylan (2015), the book gives a strong view of the war to readers. It shows us the value and worth books had in people’s lives, especially the easy-to-carry papers that inspired many while keeping them company whenever they were lonely. Nowadays, people use digital platforms for entertainment, such as video games. For encouragement and knowledge, they use search engines such as Google, and for the inspiration, they use social media such as YouTube. Besides, the book gives background information on how the first servicemen books were collected with the aid of outraged librarians and publishers. Many millions of book copies were sent to the American troops. Consequently, the American fighters began to specify genres of books that they felt were what they needed. They also wrote to the authors of the books, giving them real insight and feedback that made them better and gained recognition. The book provides a preview of how the Council on Books in Wartime came to be as well as the start of Armed Services Edition (Malcomb, 2017).  When Books Went to War brought to reality the fact that many people never imagined even as possible. The aspect of American service members reading during the war was unimaginable as many of us from the digital era only know of war from movies where the soldiers hardly have time to relax, read and unwind off. Also, very few knew the existence of the Armed Services Edition until Manning brought out the organization in her book, even detailing how it came into being and its formation. However, Molly’s collective book of short stories has way too many of them. A book with short stories should not be that vast and voluminous. Besides, the short stories themselves have many pages for a reader reading them has to take much of their time on one story. The book has repetitive themes about war and the role of books to the American troops. All the stories are about World War II, which is a monotonous topic all over the book, which makes it somehow dull and annoying to non-historians. 

Recommendation

When Books Went to War is a piece of literature that I would recommend others to read. The book fills a void present about the American publishing history that has been neglected for such a long time. It gives insight into the printing and publishing history in America, especially during World War II. Therefore, I would recommend others to read this book, especially the historians and all those that love reading regardless of the genre. However, it is not a book that anybody might enjoy, especially the digital generation that is used to movies and televisions. Also, I would recommend the book for reading to the American publishing community in which they can learn several things from the contributions of their pioneers in the industry. For instance, just before the onset of the Second World War, the German banned and burned all the books that did not conjoin with the German spirits and ideologies. Therefore, the American publishers and librarians campaigned against the wanton destruction of books and decided to save them (Greco, 2019). It is then that they decided to print millions of book copies of all genres and send them to their American soldiers overseas. This was done to give them comfort at the front line of war and save the books from banning and burning. It is from the experiences and actions of the pioneer American publishers and librarians that the current publishing teams have their roots. They could also be inspired to do better in society by knowing that their contributions are far and deep-reaching such that they go a long way in improving the people’s lifestyle and the community.

Conclusion

Molly’s When Books Went to War focuses on the long-forgotten history concerning accounts of American publishing. Books played a significant in the lives of American service members during the Second World War. The books kept them company during the lonely cold days of the war on the battlefield. They also inspired them and gave them hope as well as encouragement, thus a new outlook on life and humanity. Books made some of them recover from their mental illnesses such as depression and begin to appreciate the shared humanity. The books inspired a reading culture among the American troops making them enroll for higher education in colleges after the war ended. Those American servicemen that advanced their knowledge became among the new middle-class of American citizens and residents. Evidently, the books touch on how the American government, publishers, and librarians contributed positively to the Second World War. It outlines the historical process on how the American Services Edition came into being such that it gave the soldiers what they needed, romantic and drama books. The books made the soldiers feel like they were back home with their loved ones and gave them a break from the realities of war to unwind, giving them new strength to carry on. Besides, Molly adds to our understanding of the historical era when books were highly regarded as a source of knowledge, inspiration, encouragement, entertainment as well as a means of communication, especially the use of letters. It also gives us an understanding regarding the American publishing community being part of the Armed Services Edition formation through their literary campaigns to safeguard the American publishing history.

References

Boylan, J. (2015). When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II. Columbia Journalism Review, 53(4), 61-63.

Greco, A. N. (2019). The Impact of World War II on American Society and Scholarly Publishing: December 7, 1941–1942. In The Growth of the Scholarly Publishing Industry in the US (pp. 33-45). Palgrave Pivot, Cham.

Malcomb, L. (2017). What Did your Library Do During the War: A Look Back at Depository Libraries and the World War II War Effort, with a Brief Bibliography. DttP, 45, 8.

Manning, M. G. (2014). When Books Went to War; The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Manning, M. G. (2018). Trouble Counting to Three: Circuit Splits and Confusion in Interpreting the Prison Litigation Reform Act's Three Strikes Rule, 28 USC Sec. 1915 (G). Cornell JL & Pub. Pol'y, 28, 207.