Prof Paul Fussell's book, "Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War"
https://books.google.ca/books/about/...page&q&f=false has a chapter on books and reading. He has a photo of men on parade being inspected by some dignitary. The caption notes that every man's leg pocket is suspiciously shaped like a softcover pocket book. He also uses the analogy of replacement troops arriving in line units only to be killed quickly. He likens them to unread books.