PUBLISHING INDUSTRY IN WARTIME: CHARLES DICKENS “A TALE OF TWO CITIES”

What better way to tell about the time than a real “historical witness” – a product of that time, for the people of that time?! As such a “witness” in this small researched book from the 40s of the 20th century – Charles Dickens “A Tale of Two Cities”, published by “Blackie & Son Limited (London and Glasgow)”. Thanks to this book, it was possible to touch on the “wartime” publishing industry, consider the main challenges faced by the book publishing industry and explore non-standard solutions for a decent response to these challenges in Great Britain. In addition, people who felt the need for books despite all the difficulties and dangers brought by “wartime” – the Second World War – become a real inspiration. This book, which in this study dates from the early 1940s, is an example of the publishing standard – the Agreement – which was introduced in Great Britain during the Second World War. Namely, the Book Production War Economy Agreement (1942), which was concluded between the publishers (Publisher Association) of Great Britain and the state leadership (represented by the Ministry of Supply). This agreement, which was mainly of a recommendatory nature, was primarily related to the rationalization of the use of resources necessary for the publishing of book products (regulating and standardizing printed publications that would respond to the main challenges in limited economic conditions). It should be noted separately that the agreement was initiated by the Association itself, because it was a response to the unfair (in the opinion of publishers) distribution of paper, namely to Paper rationing, which was introduced by The British Ministry of Information [Holman 2005]. In this context, the earlier creation of The Paper Control Committee, which controlled the use of paper by publishers and acted as their defender before the Ministry of Supply [Vassilopoulos 2021], should be considered. Speaking about the demand for books during the Second World War in Great Britain, one should note the incessant thirst for reading, learning new things, and searching for “answers to questions that concern us now” [Hench 2010]. It seems that there were already enough exciting events in everyday life, but it was precisely in the times when the war dragged on and there was no visible end or finale, and society began to tire of uncertainty and the constant feeling of “calm before the storm”, books became a real salvation from difficult to perceive and understand reality – a new reality. This explains the constantly growing demand for books of various formats and genres in the 1940s.