Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
War always brought suffering and hardship, but also opportunity for those who could adapt skillfully to the new circumstances. Much of this opportunism was deplorable, but publishers also recognized that new times required new authors and new types of books. In this presentation, esteemed book historian Andrew Pettegree (University of St Andrews) offers an examination of how war impacted bookselling, reading, and the livelihoods of authors, and how far the lessons of wartime disruption were absorbed when the fighting ended.
War always brought suffering and hardship, but also opportunity for those who could adapt skillfully to the new circumstances. Much of this opportunism was deplorable, but publishers also recognized that new times required new authors and new types of books. In this presentation, esteemed book historian Andrew Pettegree (University of St Andrews) offers an examination of how war impacted bookselling, reading, and the livelihoods of authors, and how far the lessons of wartime disruption were absorbed when the fighting ended.
