Guide Michelin is a series of guide books published by the French tire company Michelin for more than a century. For the first edition of the Michelin Guide the brothers had nearly 35,000 copies printed. It was given away free of charge, and contained useful information for motorists, including maps, instructions for repairing and changing tires, and lists of car mechanics, hotels and gas stations. The red cover is for hotels and restaurants and the green one for tourist destinations. During the Second World War, publication was suspended, but in 1944, at the request of the Allied forces, the 1939 guide to France was specially reprinted for military use; its maps were judged the best and most up-to-date available to the invading armies.