Walter Lippmann. U.S. Foreign Policy. Armed Services Edition [C-73]. UVa.

When David G. Wittels investigated the ASE project for the Saturday Evening Post in 1945, he found that the American fighting men expressed a surprising degree of interest in learning more about the political context of the war. Soldiers read Betty Wason's depiction of Greece under Axis occupation and, as Wittels observed, Walter Lippmann's commentary on America's role in the world: "Observers are divided as to whether the demand overseas for Walter Lippmann's thoughtful and illuminating U.S. Foreign Policy is merely a reflection of the fact that it was a best-seller here or an indication that soldiers are anxious to know what the hell they're fighting for and where do we go from here. Maj. Gen Joseph W. Byron, head of the Army Special Services Division, spotted a sergeant engrossed in the Lippmann book in the shade of a bomber in India. The general asked him what he thought of our foreign policy. 'I'm not sure yet sir,' he replied. 'But I sure would like to know what it's about, and that's why I'm reading this.'"

Ring Lardner. You Know Me Al. Armed Services Edition [782]. UVa

Servicemen who missed the World Series back home could read the made-up letters of a fictional ball player in You Know Me Al or pick up a copy of Frank Graham's biography of Lou Gehrig. Graham's book was so popular that it was issued twice, once as ASE J-277 [shown previously in this exhibition], and a year or so later as ASE 781 [shown here].

Carl Van Doren. Benjamin Franklin. Armed Services Edition [K-30]. UVa

GI's could visit the past by exploring the biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Andrew Jackson.

J. B. Brebner and Allan Nevins. The Making of Modern Britain. Armed Services Edition [A-17]. UVa

Soldiers could read ASE's to explore the history of the countries they were defending.