Books as Weapons

Propaganda, Publishing, and the Battle for Global Markets in the Era of World War II

by John B. Hench. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY. 2010. Hardcover in dust jacket. Plain white boards, quarterbound in dark blue with silver lettering on spine. 333 pages.

This is about the use of U.S. books for "information purposes" during WWII (the winners of wars don't call their information "propaganda"). More to the point, it is about how publishers saw a financial opportunity in the aspect of flooding non-English speaking countries with English-language books after they were freed from Axis control. And in particular, it is about the "Overseas Editions", which were the paperbacks designed to carry out this plan  (along with others books).

It is absolutely fascinating.