Alfaguara collaborates on the initiative Books for the Troops

More than 3,000 soldiers stationed abroad will receive a book over the next few days thanks to the initiative Books for the Troops, backed by the Spanish Armed Forces and a number of publishing houses, among them Alfaguara. Queen of the South by Arturo Perez-Reverte, The Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire and Plenilunio by Antonio Muñoz Molina are among the titles which soldiers stationed in Afghanistan and Lebanon will be able to enjoy.

The idea for the initiative came from writer Álvaro Colomer while on a visit to the Cervantes military base in Lebanon. He was struck by he demand for books among military personnel and promised to arrange for publishing houses to donate unsold books. Minister for Defense, Carmen Chacón, decided to extend the initiative to all Spanish military bases abroad. "The Armed Forces have gone from being feaed to being admired by civil society, and the world of culture has been instrumental in this shift. The distribution of books symbolizes this dialogue between culture and the Armed Forces, between arms and the arts."

The response from publishing houses has been overwhelming and the project is now set to go further by creating a direct line of communication between the publishing world and the military.