This New York Times bestselling account of books parachuted to soldiers during WWII is a “cultural history that does much to explain modern America” (USA Today). When America entered World War II in 1941, we faced an enemy that had banned and burned 100 million books. Outraged librarians launched a campaign to send free books to American troops, gathering 20 million hardcover donations. Two years later, the War Department and the publishing industry stepped in with an extraordinary program: 120 million specially printed paperbacks designed for troops to carry in their pockets and rucksacks in every theater of war. These small, lightweight Armed Services Editions were beloved by the troops and are still fondly remembered today. Soldiers read them while waiting to land at Normandy, in hellish trenches in the midst of battles in the Pacific, in field hospitals, and on long bombing flights. This pioneering project not only listed soldiers’ spirits, but also helped rescue The Great Gatsby from obscurity and made Betty Smith, author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, into a national icon. “A thoroughly engaging, enlightening, and often uplifting account . . . I was enthralled and moved.” — Tim O’Brien, author of The Things They Carried “Whether or not you’re a book lover, you’ll be moved.” — Entertainment Weekly

Nearly 1 million American soldiers passed through Australia between 1942 and 1945 as part of America's strategy to re-capture the Philippines and defeat Japan.They encountered a country full of reassuring similarities and strange differences. Here was a land of wide-open spaces, roughly the same size as the US, with a can-do, pioneering spirit, a history of swift development; a land of 'funny animals' and peculiar vowel sounds. But who were the Australians and how were Americans to behave in their midst? They were, of course, 'an outdoors sort of people, breezy and very democratic', with a gargantuan appetite for swearing.In the inimitable prose of the soldier's pocket book series, this pithy guide captures the essence of Australia and its people, their humour, vocabulary; their attitude to the Yanks, the British, the War and the world with remarkable economy and clarity. It also manages to squeeze in a précis of Australian history, politics, economics, sports, and musical tradition, as well as colourful lexicon of national slang, which defines for example sheila as 'a babe', cliner as 'another babe', and sninny as 'a third babe'. Like any self-respecting guide to Australian culture, it contains the text of Waltzing Matilda, together with a few bon mots about its cultural significance, particularly in wartime.Unlike cricket, which is a polite game, Australian Rules Football creates a desire on the part of the crowd to tear someone apart, usually the referee.The Australian has few equals in the world at swearing ...the commonest swear words are bastard (pronounced "barstud"), "bugger," and "bloody," and the Australians have a genius for using the latter nearly every other word.

At the Front Line draws on a plethora of letters, diaries and documents written by over 300 Australian soldiers in the field to present a picture of the hardships and triumphs of their wartime experience. Mark Johnston analyses the suffering of front-line soldiers caused not only by the opposing force, but also by the conditions imposed by their own army. The book details the physical and psychological pressures of life at the front and shows how soldiers survived or surrendered to unbearable environments, fear, boredom and the constant threat of impending death. The myths of mateship and equanimity are brought under scrutiny. Much hostility can be explained by competition between ranks and the perceived hostility of superiors. The author investigates the immense strain that led to many breakdowns and the characteristic forebearance that saw so many others through.

Desert Diggers: Writings from a War Zone ‘Somewhere in the Middle East’ 1940-1942 draws upon hundreds of soldiers’ letters in a fresh and captivating narrative of the war in North Africa. Desert Diggers follows the first men to volunteer after the outbreak of war in 1939, tracing their adventures in exotic ports before further training in Palestine. A hunger for action grew: ‘Most of the chaps are ... anxious to get into anything that looks like a fight’, one soldier wrote to his brother. From Egypt, ‘the hottest and dustiest place on God's earth’ was the Diggers’ next destination and their ‘blooding’ in the battles for Bardia and Tobruk. After Rommel failed to storm Tobruk in April-May 1941, Nazi propaganda denigrated the garrison, ‘caught like rats in a trap’. Amid frequent bombing and shelling, Berlin’s scornful broadcasts were an unintended tonic. ‘Frequently we laughed and joked until the tears came into our eyes’, a Digger quipped. From Tobruk, to the blunting of Rommel’s attacks at El Alamein, the price of victory was palpably high: ‘some of my best mates didn't come out of it’, lamented a corporal to his sister. Returning to Australia in 1943, some men maimed or traumatised, brought a further test for the Diggers ... Told in the words of the men who served, Desert Diggers offers a new personal perspective on the Western Desert campaign. With immediacy and raw emotion, these skillfully woven letters provide a remarkable and compelling account of the Australian experience of war.