While armies have seized enemy records and rare texts as booty throughout history, it was only during World War II that an unlikely band of librarians, archivists, and scholars traveled abroad to collect books and documents to aid the military cause.
Galvanized by the events of war into acquiring and preserving the written word, as well as providing critical Information for intelligence purposes, these American civilians set off on missions to gather foreign publications and Information acros.
While armies have seized enemy records and rare texts as booty throughout history, it was only during World War II that an unlikely band of librarians, archivists, and scholars traveled abroad to collect books and documents to aid the military cause