BOOKS ON THE WAR
While critics in April 1946 agreed that the postwar era had not yet produced any great fiction about the war (that would have to wait until The Naked and the Dead came out in 1948), a number of upcoming non-fiction titles about the war were advertised or noted in the April 20 Publishers' Weekly. Books on the war, which were hot sellers during the conflict, proved major disappointments in 1946, with a few notable exceptions.
Two of the war-related titles were among the books singled out in the "Forecast For Buyers" feature, the closest the publication came to reviews back then. Both were also advertised this week:
Wrath in Burma by Fred Eldridge, which Doubleday advertised in this issue as "the uncensored story of international maneuvers in the far East and our own General "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell ” who fell victim "strange alliance between a medieval Chinese warlord and an Oklahoma politician wearing the striped trousers of diplomacy." Eldridge had served with Stilwell in Burma. This was a story that fascinated the public and press. Stilwell, who technically was the equal of Eisenhower, had been in charge of the US forces fighting in the China-Burma-India theater of operations. However, this area was not officially designated a theater of operation and Stilwell and his men were expected to follow the lead of the British, who had been the colonial superpower in the region, and the Chinese Nationalist Army. Stillwell got along with neither, finding the British forces too reluctant to engage the Japanese and the Chinese Nationalists too riddled with corruption to be an effective force. When he tried to do an end-run around Chiang Kai Shek, the powerful China lobby in the US, led by Time-Life's Henry Luce, had him relieved of his command. The public, the press and the enlisted men were on Stilwell's side, This was one of several books about the situation, which continues to engage military and diplomatic historians to this day. Check out Wikipedia for a fuller accounting of the affair. The book was due out on May 9.
Into Siam, Underground Kingdom by Nicol Smith and Blake Clark was an account of what Publishers' Weekly called the "exciting, true, and formerly highly-guarded secret story of an experience in espionage in the Far East." It is still a little known story. Japan had invaded Thailand just after attacking Pearl Harbor. The Thai government soon capitulated and entered the war as an ally of Japan, allowing the country to be used as a regional staging area for the Japanese military. Members of the government and military who objected to the alliance were stripped of their positions. The OSS and the British SOE organized a resistance movement, training Thai nationals, mostly students, residing at the time in the US and Great Britain who worked with former government officials, members of the Thai royal family and opposition forces inside Thailand. This book was an inside account by two former members of the OSS. It was being released on May 20 by Bobbs-Merrill with a large national advertising campaign and had been previewed in Cosmopolitan, not yet the girly magazine it later became.
Other books about the war advertised this week in Publishers' Weekly:
Horned Pigeon by George Millar, being released on May 23 by Doubleday. This was the account by the highly decorated Millar of his escape from a German prison camp. It already had been a big success in Great Britain, Millar's homeland.
Last Chapter by Ernie Pyle was the most anticipated of the wartime accounts. It was the third volume of Pyle's wartime correspondences. The famous journalist had been killed on April 17, 1945, on Ie Shima. The earlier volumes, Your War and Brave Men, had been best sellers. It was due out May 29 from Henry Holt.
Eight Hours From England was the one war novel advertised that week. It was based on the experiences of its author, Anthony Quayle, who would become well known as an actor after the war. Doubleday presented it as tale "of intrigue and action" set in "the rugged hills of Albania," recommending it for those who thrill "to books like John Buchan's The Thirty-Nine Steps." Quayle, who already had appeared on stage and in films, was an officer with the British SOE, serving as liaison with Albanian partisan forces.