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As the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ marks the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Professor Emma Smith uncovers five unexpected stories about how World War Two changed books, publishing and reading forever.
What did British soldiers read? At the Imperial War Museum in London, Emma Smith is delighted to be given access to a rare collection of paperbacks which were specially produced for servicemen and women. Few of these survive because they were often passed from hand to hand and simply disintegrated. As the IWM begins to catalogue this newly acquired collection of over four hundred titles, Emma is introduced to The Flying Visit by Peter Fleming. Astonishingly, his satirical 1941 novel about Hitler landing by parachute in England after a plane crash - without money and unable to speak the language – pre-dated Rudolf Hess’ actual flight to Britain later that year. What might the service personnel who read the edition of this book in the library of a naval base in Scotland particularly have enjoyed about it?

With contributions from Dominic Hewett.

Produced for Just Radio by Beaty Rubens