Overseas Editions and the Internationalization of the U.S. Book Trade, 1942-48

FAIN: FB-52406-06

John B. Hench
American Antiquarian Society (Worcester, MA 01609-1634)

My project examines American book publishers’ efforts during and just after WWII to achieve greater international market share than ever before. This drive centered on the production and distribution of Overseas Editions, a paperback series in English and four European languages overseen by a trade organization, the Council on Books in Wartime, and the chief government propaganda agency, the Office of War Information. In meeting OWI’s goal of putting key American books into the hands of European civilians just liberated from the Nazis, American publishers gained the means and opportunity to expand trade abroad. My project also sheds light more generally on government-business relationships and on the export of American culture.

Associated Products

American sacred music imprints, 1698 1810 : a bibliography (Book)
Title: American sacred music imprints, 1698 1810 : a bibliography
Author: Hench, John B
Primary URL: https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=9780912296951
Primary URL Description: WorldCat entry
Publisher: American Antiquarian Society
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9780912296951

Conflicting paths : growing up in America (Book)
Title: Conflicting paths : growing up in America
Author: Hench, John B
Primary URL: https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=9780674160675
Primary URL Description: WorldCat entry
Publisher: Harvard University
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9780674160675

A History of the Book in America. Volume One: The Colonial Book in the Atlantic World. (Book)
Title: A History of the Book in America. Volume One: The Colonial Book in the Atlantic World.
Author: Hench, John B
Year: 2000
Primary URL: https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=9780807858264
Primary URL Description: WorldCat entry
Publisher: New York: Cambridge University Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9780807858264

Books as Weapons: Propaganda, Publishing, and the Battle for Global Markets in the Era of World War II (Book)
Title: Books as Weapons: Propaganda, Publishing, and the Battle for Global Markets in the Era of World War II
Author: Hench, John B
Year: 2010
Primary URL: https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=9780801448911
Primary URL Description: WorldCat entry
Publisher: Ithaca: Cornell University Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9780801448911

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