The Council on Books in Wartime began by giving all ASE titles a successive number and dividing them into monthly lists, from debut list A (fall 1943) through final list TT (fall 1947). At first, both the number and the list-letter were printed on the cover of each ASE, for example C-7, or J-277. Successive numbering was dropped beginning with the K list; thereafter, the numbers began over again with each list, for example P-30 or T-33. Beginning with the U list, the list letter was dropped from the cover (though still used internally by the Council), and only a successive number (beginning with no. 655) appeared on the book itself, for example 926 or 1013.

When David G. Wittels investigated the ASE project for the Saturday Evening Post in 1945, he found that the American fighting men expressed a surprising degree of interest in learning more about the political context of the war. Soldiers read Betty Watson's depiction of Greece under Axis occupation and, as Wittels observed, Walter Lippmann's commentary on America's role in the world: "Observers are divided as to whether the demand overseas for Walter Lippmann's thoughtful and illuminating U.S. Foreign Policy is merely a reflection of the fact that it was a best-seller here or an indication that soldiers are anxious to know what the hell they're fighting for and where do we go from here. Maj. Gen Joseph W. Byron, head of the Army Special Services Division, spotted a sergeant engrossed in the Lippmann book in the shade of a bomber in India. The general asked him what he thought of our foreign policy. "I'm not sure yet sir," he replied. "But I sure would like to know what it's about, and that's why I'm reading this."

Servicemen who missed the World Series back home could read the made-up letters of a fictional ball player in You Know Me Al or pick up a copy of a Frank Graham's biography of Lou Gehrig. Graham's book was so popular that it was issued twice, once as ASE J-277 [shown elsewhere in this exhibition], and a year or so later as ASE 781[shown here].

GI's could visit the past by exploring the biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Andrew Jackson.

Soldiers could read ASE's to explore the history of the countries they were defending.

Soldiers who were sent to new parts of the globe could read more about the countries they visited, as well as other exotic lands, in the ASE's.

Some ASE's had religious themes, for example Henry Emerson Fosdick's essays, or Sholem Asch's novel based on the life of St. Paul.

Fiction dominated the ASE list, but a substantial minority of the titles were non-fiction, a number of which explored science.

Gl's who were fascinated by the aircraft of the war could read about aviation in the ASE's.

David G. Wittels noted that many GI's were surprisingly interested in the workings of the human mind.

Big band jazz reached its apogee during the war. Service personnel who missed the sounds of home could compensate by reading about such big band maestros as Benny Goodman.

Not every ASE can easily be categorized by subject matter. The UVa and LC copies may be the only survivors of this edition of Webster's New Handy Dictionary.

Every ASE carried the same message on the inside front cover, emphasizing the special nature and limited distribution of books published in the series.