Magic at War

In wartime Britain, radio was the chief form of news and entertainment. The B.B.C. had launched a television service in 1936, but t ransmissions were halted throughout the war. Returning home after a hard day’s work, exhausted and often depressed about wartime events, the British population would turn to the radio for light relief and a sense of normality.  The wireless brought the news vividly to life for people far from the action, but it was also a source of comfort too. In their sitting rooms, couples swayed to dance music played live, families gathered to listen to radio comedy shows such as  It’s That Man Again , listen to singers like Vera Lynn, and occasionally to be mystified by magic – performed over the radio.  Home radio in World War Two (Source: Creative Commons Licence) A host of magicians achieved considerable success from their appearances on radio during World War Two, but not all actually performed any tricks. Here's a few of them: J. B. Priestley P...

From 1943 to 1947, some 122 million books were published and printed by the Council on Books in Wartime, an American non-profit organisation. Known as Armed Services Editions (A.S.E.s), the books were all reprints of popular fiction and non-fiction titles, printed in lightweight, paperback formats, half the size of regular paperbacks. They were sent out to the U.S. military in every theatre of war.  The idea was that service men and women could carry them in a hip pocket or stuff them in their rucksacks. Ostensibly aimed at keeping the troops entertained, the books also educated readers about political, historical, and military issues. The slogan of the Council on Books in Wartime was: “Books are weapons in the war of ideas.”   Given to service members for free, the A.S.E. books were enormously popular. A contemporary newspaper article recounted: “The hunger for these books, evidenced by the way they are read to tatters, is astounding”. G.I.s wrote tha...