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Winter release for 2025, The “1943” Edition, honors, and is inspired by, one of the most ambitious cultural initiatives in United States history: the Armed Services Editions of popular books published and distributed to troops on the battlefields of World War II.
These publications, designed to be lightweight, inexpensive to produce, and easy to carry, became extremely popular with deployed soldiers and sailors. Between 1943 and 1947, more than 120 million copies representing over 1,200 titles were printed and distributed to troops in theater. They were read, passed along, bartered for, and hoarded by servicemen around the world.
NOTE: For lots more about this amazing chapter in the history of American publishing and design, listen to a new episode of our Staple Day Podcast that features a chat with Molly Guptill Manning, author of When Books Went to War, the definitive account of the history of Armed Services Editions.
