bless them for it. The battle for men’s minds You and I, gentle reader, live in the United States, and we think of The Reader’s Digest as an American magazine. So it is— 15 million Americans buy it every month. But it is also published in 20 other countries—10,500,000 copies a month. It is the most popular magazine in several countries abroad, including all of the Spanish-speaking countries. The International editions of The Digest carry more or less the same articles as the U.S. editions. The editors have discovered that subjects which are important to people in Iowa, California and New York are equally important to people in France, Tokyo and Rio. Thus it comes about that Digest editors have a profound influence on people who are free to read what they want. This magazine exports the best in American life. In my opinion, The Digest is doing as much as the United States Information Agency to win the battle for men’s minds. Credit where credit is due. I know nobody who deserves the gratitude of their fellow Americans more than DeWitt and Lila Acheson Wallace. The Digest is the lengthened shadow of these two great editors. Theirs are the names at the top of the masthead. It is the most formidable of all mastheads: no less than 208 men and women. Among them you will find some of the most distinguished journalists in the world. No other magazine is so richly endowed with professional competence. Some magazines are dominated by the men who sell advertising space. In my experience, there has never been a good magazine which was not, like The Digest, dominated by its edttors. Long live The Reader’s Digest! “Reader’s Digest asked me if I would comment on why I think so many people all over the world read it,” Mr. Ogiivy says. “I agreed to try, because I regard The Digest as a major force for good in the world, and I wanted to say so. In return for my work The Digest will make a donation to Fettes, the Scottish school which gave me my education on a full scholarship.” Click here to return to the text.