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The Bestselling Books of the Last One Hundred Years: 1938

We started at 1918, bringing you the bestselling books of the last one hundred years. We’re moving along now, covering each year at a time and we’re well into the 1930s now. Today we’re documenting the ten bestselling books of 1938, and what you were reading instead.

1938 was the year publishers Simon & Schuster was founded, the year the infamous War of the Worlds radio play was aired, the year Superman first appeared in the comic books, and the year of Kristallnacht when the persecution of the Jews began in earnest in Nazi Germany; war was looming.

So here they are, the ten top selling books of 1938 as the world sat on the very brink of World War II. We’ve also included some well known books that didn’t make the list.

The Yearling – Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

Buy

The Citadel – A. J Cronin

Buy

My Son, My Son – Howard Spring

Buy

Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier

Buy

Northwest Passage – Kenneth Roberts

Buy

All This, and Heaven Too – Rachel Field

Buy

The Rains Came – Louis Bromfield

Buy

And Tell of Time – Laura Krey

Buy

The Mortal Storm – Phyllis Bottome

Buy

Action at Aquila – Hervey Allen

Buy

1938 also saw the release of Evelyn Waugh’s,  Scoop, but in the list, Rebecca has probably best stood the test of time.

We’ll continue this series right through to 2018, keep an eye out for 1939, coming soon!

If you’d like to see all the lists so far, try this search 

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