The War of Words by Molly Guptill Manning

 

First Line: When Dean Chatlain led his unit into battle in Southern Tunisia in early 1943, he did not expect the day's events would turn him into a literary hero.

 

Hitler's Germany was #1 in the number of newspapers published and sold. His propaganda budget was $134 million per year. When the United States entered World War II, US Army Chief of Staff George Marshall and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt knew that something had to be done to combat the Nazis' campaign of misinformation. The best defense was to lessen censorship and to let American troops bring the truth into focus by writing and disseminating it themselves. 

 

By war's end, over 4,600 unique GI publications had been printed around the world. In newsprint, troops made sense of their hardships, losses, and reasons for fighting, and these newspapers became the heart and soul of their units. They were kept by the soldiers and mailed back home to their loved ones, with strict instructions to save them all. 

 

From Normandy to the shores of Japan, American soldiers exercised a level of free speech the military had never known before... or since. As in her When Books Went to War (one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read), Molly Guptill Manning does a masterful job of showing what went into the creation of these GI newspapers. How typewriters, paper, mimeograph machines and stencils-- everything that the soldiers would need to create their newspapers-- were gathered and shipped. She shows the opposition George Marshall faced in putting this program together as well as how stateside newspapers enthusiastically joined forces with him. There were some mighty tender egos to be reckoned with, and I enjoyed how soldiers found ways to circumvent them to say what they wanted to say.

 

Probably the most important lesson learned by the War Department at this time was the fact that keeping soldiers and civilians in the dark actually lowered morale. At the beginning of America's entry into World War II, morale was very low. Soldiers couldn't understand why they were being sent to Europe when it was the Japanese who'd attacked Pearl Harbor. Why weren't they being sent to the Pacific? When the War Department eased up on censorship and began to let people know what was going on, morale skyrocketed. Soldiers knew what they were fighting for, and civilians were now eager to do their part in the war effort. 

 

There are so many powerful personalities to learn about in The War of Words. So many amazing stories of what had to be done to keep getting those newspapers into the hands of the troops. So many lessons those in power had to learn. (For instance, the need to provide news aimed at troops who were Black, Japanese-American, Native American, and women.)

 

On a personal note, as I read The War of Words, I was constantly reminded of my mother and a good friend who put their heads together to create a hometown newspaper for my cousin who was serving in Vietnam. Filled column by column with juicy gossip from my little farm town, it kept my cousin informed of what was going on at home-- and it became so popular that it was put on the bulletin board for everyone else to enjoy-- and they did even though they didn't know the people being gossiped about.

 

Never underestimate the power of words. 

The War of Words: How America's GI Journalists Battled Censorship and Propaganda to Help Win World War II

by Molly Guptill Manning

ASIN: B0BZJW7S7H

Blackstone Publishing © 2023

eBook, 323 pages

 

Non-Fiction, Standalone

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

On My Radar: Molly Guptill Manning's The War of Words!

 

Yes, I do love crime fiction, and most of the reviews you read here on Kittling: Books are reviews of mysteries, but I also love well-written non-fiction. Back in 2014, I read Molly Guptill Manning's When Books Went to War, and I loved it. So much so that it is now one of my favorite non-fiction books of all time. 

So... what did I do when I learned that Manning had written another book? I went out on the driveway and popped a couple of wheelies on my scooter, that's what! Let me share some information about her new book.

Available September 26, 2023!

Synopsis: 

"At a time when civilian periodicals faced strict censorship, US Army Chief of Staff George Marshall won the support of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to create an expansive troop-newspaper program. Both Marshall and FDR recognized that there was a second struggle taking place outside the battlefields of World War II—the war of words. While Hitler inundated the globe with propaganda, morale across the US Army dwindled. As the Axis blurred the lines between truth and fiction, the best defense was for American troops to bring the truth into focus by writing it down and disseminating it themselves.

By war’s end, over 4,600 unique GI publications had been printed around the world. In newsprint, troops made sense of their hardships, losses, and reasons for fighting. These newspapers—by and for the troops—became the heart and soul of a unit.

From Normandy to the shores of Japan, American soldiers exercised a level of free speech the military had never known nor would again. It was an extraordinary chapter in American democracy and military history. In the war for “four freedoms,” it was remarkably fitting that troops fought not only with guns but with their pens. This stunning volume includes fourteen pages of photographs and illustrations."

 

 

After reading her previous book and remembering the power of it, I can't wait to dive into The War of Words. Join me!

When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning

First Line: "Were you ever so upset emotionally that you had to tell someone about it, to sit down and write it out?" a Marine asked in a letter to author Betty Smith.

When the Nazis came to power in Germany, they banned and burned over 100 million books and caused citizens in fear for their lives to hide or burn many more. When the U.S. entered World War II, Franklin Roosevelt and other leaders knew that this was a war of ideas. Of one government doing its best to limit access to knowledge and free thought versus other governments that championed their free exchange. As millions of men went overseas to fight, librarians launched a campaign that gathered 20 million hardcover books, but those in Washington, DC knew that it wasn't enough. They couldn't ask the public to strip their own shelves; something bigger was needed, and something better suited to battlefield conditions. In 1943 the War Department and the publishing industry created an extraordinary program: Armed Services Editions (ASE)-- 120 million small, lightweight paperbacks for soldiers to carry in their pockets and rucksacks.

Over 1,200 different titles from almost all possible genres were printed. Soldiers read the ASEs while waiting to land at Normandy, in hellish conditions on remote Pacific islands, on long bombing flights, and in hospitals. These soldiers wrote to the authors, and their reading had other side effects such as rescuing The Great Gatsby from oblivion, and making a national icon of Betty Smith, who wrote A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Armed Services Editions showed us how stories could help win a war, yet few of us know anything about them today.

If you love books, you are going to love When Books Went to War. I knew absolutely nothing about Armed Services Editions before I picked up this book, and once I finished it, I knew that one day I would have to have one of these extraordinary books in my personal library-- and not just because my grandfather fought in the Pacific during World War II.

I was not prepared for the emotional power this book held for me. As I read about a government that tried to plan for all eventualities, I was inspired. Books were a major source of entertainment and enlightenment for soldiers, and much thought was put into the design of the books. Would they fit in a soldier's pockets? Would they fit into rucksacks? How well would they hold up to all sorts of wear and weather? What did the soldiers want to read? What was going to happen when all these soldiers came home? What sorts of jobs could they qualify for? The titles ran the gamut-- from jobs training to Westerns to steamy novels to classics-- and soldiers couldn't get enough.

Publishers had to run to get more titles and many more copies ready to send out. Money was tight, and there was a paper shortage. Publishers cut where they could, including royalties to authors whose books were being printed. During the last print runs of these ASEs, authors were only earning one penny per copy-- and most waived their royalties altogether. The war and the men who were fighting it were of the utmost importance. Many of those fighting soldiers had never had a chance for a decent education. They devoured the ASEs like they were starving. Once the government adjusted the age limitations on the G.I. Bill, thousands upon thousands of these soldiers came home and went on to earn college educations.

Manning pulls no punches in When Books Went to War. As loathsome as what the Nazis were doing in Europe, she does mention existing problems (such as racism) in the U.S. and how these problems affected soldiers, but that is not the focus of this book, and she made a wise decision to avoid that quagmire. She chose to keep the focus on the power and magic of the printed word.

As inspiring as what the government and the publishing industry did, the real, sometimes gut-wrenching, power of When Books Went to War lies in actual heartfelt letters written by soldiers to the authors of the books they'd read, letters that almost every author answered (much to the shock and delight of the soldiers). If I have any complaint at all about this book, it's that Manning didn't include enough of those letters. I would love to read many, many more of them. As it is, Molly Guptill Manning's book is probably the very best book I've read all year. Even though I don't reread books as a rule, I could pick this one up and savor it all over again. I loved it. 

 

When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II 
by Molly Guptill Manning

eISBN: 9780544535176

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt © 2014

eBook, 288 pages

History, Standalone

Rating: A+

Source: Net Galley