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Re: Has the U.S. Government censored the book, "Johnny Got His Gun," by Dalton Trumbo?
Jason AtkinsonSep 17, 2018 2:16 PM (in response to Laurie Treat)
2 people found this helpfulDalton Trumbo himself explained the history of the publication of the book in an introduction added to latter editions. By his account, the decision to not publish at various times was one made by the publishers and (during WWII) himself rather than any edict by the federal government.
---Since Mr. Blanshard fell into what I hope was an unconscious error both as to the period of the book's "production" and the title under which it was "produced," I can't place too much faith in his story of its suppression. Certainly I was not informed of it; I received a number of letters from from service men overseas who had read it through Army libraries; and, in 1945, I myself ran across a copy in Okinawa while fighting was still in progress.
If, however, it had been banned and I had known about it, I doubt I should have protested very loudly. There are times when it be needful for certain private rights to give way to the requirements of a larger public good. I know that is a dangerous thought, and I shouldn't want to carry it too far, but World War II was not a romantic war.
As the conflict deepened, and Johnny went out of print altogether, its unavailability became a civil rights issue with the extreme American right...
Nothing could have convinced me so quickly that Johnny was exactly the sort of book that shouldn't be reprinted until the war was at an end. The publishers agreed.
https://books.google.com/books?id=LnnMLLk2uU4C&pg=PA3&lpg=PP1&focus=viewport&output=html-
Re: Has the U.S. Government censored the book, "Johnny Got His Gun," by Dalton Trumbo?
Laurie Treat Sep 19, 2018 10:07 AM (in response to Jason Atkinson)Thank you. Trumbo's response in later additions clarifies the issue of pulling the book rather than government banning.
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Re: Has the U.S. Government censored the book, "Johnny Got His Gun," by Dalton Trumbo?
J. Andrew Sep 19, 2018 5:55 PM (in response to Laurie Treat)Something that might help is if you can find any evidence of a law or executive order that would have authorized banning publications or any agency that was empowered to do so. Then you could request records of that agency or related to the enforcement of that law.
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