by Vladimir VASILYEV, RAS Corresponding Member, Chairman of the RAS Scientific Council for Complex Problem "History of the Russian Academy of Sciences" On the eve of the 65th anniversary of the victory of our people in the Great Patriotic War, we must recollect those heroic pages of its history, which found reflection in academic books of that period as the most important stage in the history of publishing activities of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The war affected all spheres of the life of our society. It also greatly affected publishing activities and printing of the country*. For instance, the number of books published by 1943 decreased almost thrice as compared with the pre-war 1940. In the years of the Great Patriotic War the publishing potential of the Academy of Sciences was subordinated, first of all, to the interests of our country's defense, strengthening of its defense potentiality, rendering of assistance to national economy, maintaining and restora-tion of morale among soldiers and rear workers. The slo-gan "Everything for the front, everything for the victory!" was a law for all academic publishers, printers and book-sellers. Besides, in the war years the Academy of Sciences not only satisfied requirements of our country's defense indus-try and national economy for books on special subjects but also, alongside with performing its statutory functions, was actively engaged in publication of scientific works and peri-odicals actually in all fields of science (certainly, taking into account war time resources), education and culture, reflecting their achievements and contribution to the development of fundamental and applied sciences. Apart from publication of research results (this activity was actu-ally not interrupted), the Academy of Sciences issued a considerable number of publications in support of the front and the rear: "Exposure of the Essence of Fascism"; "Academic Book for the Front"; "In Support of the Country ... Читать далее