Using EPUB Files (for Members of the MPHS)

The Military Postal History Society (MPHS) offers a number of documents in electronic formats. This web page describes how to view the EPUB files published by the Society. The EPUB format is an international standard. It is described on the Wikipedia EPUB Discussion. This reading format is used by nearly all electronic readers EXCEPT Amazon Kindle (MOBI). It is the typical format read by the NOOK device. An example could include: Al Kugel's Naval Aviation in the Adriatic Article.

When you right-click on the above link, you will have the option to "Save As" or "save link as" onto your computer, phone, or tablet drive. Some systems allow you to click directly on the above links, and will provide the option to "Save" the EPUB file.

At this point, you should have one or more ".epub" files on your computer, phone, or tablet.

Import and Read EPUB File Using Google Books

The Google Play Books app is available on various phones and tablets. You can upload and read EPUB-formatted books using this app. See: this article on uploading EPUB books into the Google Play Books app. In addition, Google Play Books is available on browsers using a computer. Go to the link: to upload and read EPUB books on the Google Play Books website. You must have a Google account to use this service.

View EPUB File Using Firefox Web Browser and EPUB Reader Addon

If you use the Firefox web browser on your computer, you can read EPUB-formatted book files directly in your browser by using an "Addon" software package. See: EPUB Reader Addon for Firefox Browser.

Copy EPUB File to NOOK Device

Instructions for moving EPUB files from your computer to the NOOK are located at article on the transfer of EPUB files from computer to NOOK. The instructions are similar to those for the Kindle, in that you connect your device to your computer with the USB cable that came with the device.

Copy EPUB File to Computer, Tablet, or Phone with Reader Software

There are a large number of EPUB reader software packages for computers, phones, and tablets.

Copy EPUB File to Android Phone with Reader Software

On the Android phone, you start an EPUB reader program, and either "open" the EPUB file, or "add to bookshelf". Note that you can read EPUB files using several Apps on Android phones and tablets, including : "Moon+ Reader", "FBReader", "Cool Reader", "Aldiko", "Mantano Free Reader", and others.

Copy EPUB File to Windows Computer

This article about various EPUB readers for Windows contains useful information. In particular, Adobe Digital Editions software for Windows handles these EPUB files quite well. When you execute the Digital Editions software, you simply use the "add to bookshelf" option to insert your EPUB file into the reader.

Another EPUB viewer available on Windows and other systems is embedded in a free document creator called Calibre. This document convert/creator comes installed with viewers for all popular electronic publication types, including a Kindle and EPUB viewer.

Additionally, the Okular program, which is free and open source, can read EPUB files. Versions are available for Windows, Mac and Linux systems.

The Okular document viewer can read a wide variety of files, from images, to PDF to EPUB. See the documentation (link above) for the formats available.

Copy EPUB File to Other Computer Systems

We have already mentioned Calibre. This free document convert/creator comes installed with viewers for all popular electronic publication types, including a Kindle and EPUB viewer.

We are not as familiar with the Apple iPhones and iPads as we are with Windows and Android. Check this article on using MOBI and EPUB files on the iPhone and Ipad for more information.

There are several EPUB readers available on Linux systems, including FBReader (with versions for Windows and MACOS), as well as Calibre and Okular (mentioned above).

EPUB File Issues

Our experience with EPUB format is generally good. Most of the readers can handle interactive content (where you click on a link and move to a different part of the document). For us, however, the chief drawback seems to be illustrations. While the Kindle does a pretty good job of handling images, the images in an EPUB reader seem to be fixed in size, and you cannot zoom into an illustration, using most EPUB readers. Note that Calibre (mentioned elsewhere on this page) does allow separate viewing and zooming of images. For this reason, the Society has decided to not publish exhibit pages, such as those from Al Kugel, in the EPUB format. We believe that we can provide several other formats that do a better job of displaying these exhibit pages.