FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“Amid the mountains of war matériel accumulating in southern England in the spring of 1944 were crates of a slender, highly classified book intended to give Allied soldiers a sense of the country they would soon overrun. One million copies of what was then titled A Pocket Guide to France had been requested by the War Department in a top secret message… ”
From the Introduction by Rick Atkinson

Instructions for American Servicemen in France during World War II
United States Army
With an Introduction by Rick Atkinson

As thousands of G.I.’s fought their way through fierce German resistance along the coast of Normandy on D-Day, they carried in their packs an illustrated pamphlet that told them what they’d find—and what would be expected of them—once they had secured their beachholds and begun the liberation of France.

Created by the U.S. War Department under conditions of the highest secrecy—then lying forgotten in archives for decades after the war—Instructions for American Servicemen in France during World War II, presented here in a facsimile edition, is a compact trove of information and reassurance. Written in a comfortable, conversational tone, the book is equal parts propaganda piece, cultural handbook, and travel guide. Though its central aim is to dispel any notions about French weakness—and simultaneously to highlight the nation’s historical importance as an ally—from our historical vantage it is the manual’s portrayal of French culture that is the most fascinating: “French beer is flatter and more slippery than our beer but the French like it, when they can get it;” “the neighborhood French café is the most French thing in all France;” “French hotel bills are complicated.” For soldiers reading Instructions in 1944, a long road lay aheadùbut with each confident description of the once and future life of various French provinces, it’s easy to imagine that end seeming just a tiny bit closer.

With the addition of a new introduction by historian Rick Atkinson recounting the story of the book’s genesis, this new edition of Instructions for American Servicemen in France brings the closing years of the war unforgettably to life.

Rick Atkinson is a journalist and the author of The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943û1944.

 

Rick Atkinson is available for interviews. For more information, please contact Levi Stahl at (773) 702-0289 or lstahl@press.uchicago.edu