March 21, 2013 – Whitman Publishing is giving away Uncirculated 1943 steel cents to readers who order sets of its new “U.S. Army in World War II: European Theater of Operations” books. One display-cased coin is free for history buffs who request either one of two four-book sets, or the entire set of eight titles.
The zinc-coated steel Lincoln cent of 1943 is a famous U.S. Mint product, made when the Treasury changed the coin’s normal bronze alloy, which was 95 percent copper. The steel composition was in effect only for a single year, but it helped save millions of pounds of copper for the war effort. “For coin collectors, indeed for every American, the 1943 steel cent offers a popular and unique hands-on connection to World War II,” said Whitman publisher Dennis Tucker.
Whitman’s new books answer the questions, “What did four million Americans contribute to victory in the European Theater of Operations during World War II? And how did they do it?” The eight volumes are based on the definitive “United States Army in World War II” series by the U.S. Army’s Center of Military History.
Published in hardcover, the books range from 520 to 748 pages, and six of the volumes feature between 9 and 43 foldout maps. Their authors include the finest military historians of World War II, including Gordon A. Harrison, Martin Blumenson, Hugh M. Cole, Charles B. MacDonald, Jeffrey J. Clarke, Robert Ross Smith, and Mary H. Williams. Each volume has been updated with a new cover design and a foreword by Armchair General magazine editor-in-chief Colonel Jerry D. Morelock.
Volumes 1 through 4 cover the “Cross-Channel Attack,” “Breakout and Pursuit,” “The Lorraine Campaign,” and “The Siegfried Line Campaign.” Volumes 5 through 7 cover “The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge,” “Riviera to the Rhine,” and “The Last Offensive,” while volume 8 (“Chronology: 1941-1945”) is a day-by-day compilation of the war’s history from Pearl Harbor to the Japanese surrender.
More details on each book are available on the Whitman website.