Parent company | Rowman & Littlefield |
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Founded | 1930 |
Founder | E. J. Stackpole Jr. |
Country of origin | United States |
Headquarters location | Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania |
Publication types | Books |
Nonfiction topics | fly fishing, outdoor sports, nature, military history, military reference |
Imprints | Stackpole Books, Headwater Books, Ryton Books |
Official website | www |
Stackpole Books is an trade publishing company in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. It was founded by E. J. Stackpole Jr. in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1930 and was moved to its current headquarters in 1993. Stackpole publishes nonfiction books in the areas of crafts, outdoors, regional and travel, military history, and military reference. The current CEO is M. David Detweiler, and the Publisher and Editorial Director is Judith Schnell.
The publishing company that became Stackpole Books has its origins with the Harrisburg newspaper Evening Telegraph, which was founded in the early 19th century. In 1901, controlling interest in the Telegraph Press was acquired by E. J. Stackpole Sr. The business was carried on by Stackpole’s son, Edward James Stackpole Jr., a decorated general in World War I who received the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, and three Purple Hearts.
In 1930, the National Service Publishing Company of Washington, D.C., which had been established in 1921, was acquired by Telegraph. Renamed Military Service Publishing Company, it published textbooks for the military services, including Army Officer’s Guide, which is still in print in an updated edition by Stackpole Books.
Also in 1930, E. J. Stackpole Jr. and his brother Albert Stackpole began a trade company called Stackpole Sons, with additional offices in New York City. Stackpole Sons published books starting in 1936 on a variety of subjects, including fiction by Damon Runyon and John Fante and autobiographies by Benny Goodman and Huey Long. Both Military Service Publishing Company and Stackpole Sons were divisions of Telegraph Press. A brief merger of Stackpole Sons with the Heck Company in the 1940s resulted in the short-lived Stackpole & Heck. After the union dissolved, the trade division became the Stackpole Company.
During World War II, Military Services Publishing Company produced small, inexpensive paperback reprints of fiction titles for soldiers. About twice the size of Armed Services Editions (ASEs), these books were still small enough to carry easily in military uniform cargo pockets. These "Superior Reprints" complemented the ASE titles and leaned toward mystery and detective fiction, including such works as Graham Greene's This Gun for Hire, Liam O'Flaherty's The Informer, and Frank Gruber's The Mighty Blockhead. Like the ASEs, these books were entertaining and noncontroversial in content; but, unlike the ASEs, they were not free to the soldiers.