NORFOLK -- The originals were classics -- ``The Great Gatsby,'' ``Frankenstein,'' ``The Grapes of Wrath,'' ``Oliver Twist.'' More than 1,300 titles, a book for the taste of every soldier.
Branded the Armed Services Editions, or ASEs, they were a sure morale boost for deployed fighters during World War II. Small enough for a GI to carry in his pocket. Cheap enough to produce in bulk. Paperback and easily disposable, if necessary. Captivating enough to take a soldier's mind off the war.
The government and publishing industry put more than 123 million books in the hands of troops overseas during the war, the largest free distribution of fiction and nonfiction in history.
Sixty years later, three publishers have teamed up to revive the effort. Hyperion, Simon & Schuster and Dover Publications have shipped more than 100,000 copies of four ASE-style books to U.S. troops on warships and throughout the world, including Afghanistan, the Middle East, Cuba and Europe. Continue