A book at war. Wartime Libraries and Readers | Andrew Pettigrew

Books and War: How Literature Affects Armed Conflict

Mao Zedong was a librarian, Stalin a poet and published poetry, Churchill used a guidebook to plan the invasion of Norway, and Evelyn Arthur St. John Waugh served in the marines before writing Brideshead Return. Libraries became a refuge for lonely families while their loved ones were at war, and during the Cold War, both sides used books as tools to promote their views on world governance.

Although books and war seem incompatible—one is a great human achievement, the other a terrible tragedy—the two themes are deeply connected. Literature often finds itself on the front line, especially in the era of modern wars.

Professor of modern history Andrew Pettigrew explores how written culture—from guidebooks and scholarly works to Biggles books and Anne Frank's diaries—has been shaped by major armed conflicts. It shows how books, their authors and readers have been and remain powerful tools in struggle, from the American Civil War to the war in Ukraine. Books have become both deadly weapons and persuasive arguments on the way to victory.