Armed Services Editions, 1943-1947

At the height of World War II, Hitler waged his War on Words and ordered the burning of books containing material that went against the Nazi platform. To counteract this censorship, American librarians gathered millions of books to be sent to U.S. soldiers that were fighting overseas as a way to express their freedom to read and defend themselves against the propaganda that came with censorship. Due to the limited numbers of books that were suitable in size and weight for soldiers to carry, American publishers established the Council on Books in Wartime, with the aim to print small paperbacks that would easily fit in a soldier's uniform pocket. The result was nearly 123 million copies of the trademark pocket-sized paperback books in 1,322 titles. There was a wide variety of genres, both fiction and nonfiction, including adventure, mystery, humor, poetry, biographies, historical novels, science/mathematics, farm and rural life, and pioneer and western stories.

In 1944, there was major controversy surrounding censorship of these books. It was election year for the United States and current president Franklin D. Roosevelt was running for his fourth term. Ohio Senator Robert Taft despised Roosevelt but knew that most soldiers overseas supported him. Taft believed that the soldiers were being persuaded to vote for Roosevelt due to the contents of the books they were being sent. In turn, numerous books were then banned under Senator Taft’s Title V Ban, in the Soldier Voting Bill, which stated that it was prohibited to distribute anything considered political propaganda to soldiers. Taft also stated that he thought soldiers should not be allowed to vote in the upcoming election due to them being “out of touch with the country, lacking knowledge of issues and candidates.” This led to an uproar from the public, librarians, and publishers. Congress immediately began to amend the law and repealed Taft’s ban. Roughly two months later the books were back in the press and being shipped to soldiers.

Kent State's collection comprises 525 Armed Services Editions books, including E. B. White's One Man's Meat, which was temporarily banned by the selection committee in 1944.

--Curated by Abigail Fife, 2024-2025 Read Graduate Assistant