Brushes and Bayonets: Cartoons, Sketches, and Paintings of World War I

Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2008. Pictorial boards, 200 pages, illustrations (some colour); 25 x 31 cm. Near fine. Firm binding, clean inside copy. Light shelfwear to boards. OVERSIZE! No priority/international, except by arrangement. Profusely illustrated. "Chosen as a 'must-read' recommendation on Sgt. Santa's Reading List in Armchair General, January 2009. It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words, but, during World War I, newspaper illustrations were worth even more, not only conveying the news to anxious families at home and soldiers in battle, but also entertaining and lifting the spirits of a nation at war. Featuring work by some of the most well-known illustrators of the period from W. Heath Robinson to Bruce Bairnsfather, this thematic collection of 250 World War I magazine illustrations is published in association with The Illustrated London News (the British Harper's). The illustrations included range from light-hearted strip cartoons and line drawings, to poignant sketches and dark and hard-hitting political satire. The images not only depict events as they happened, but reveal all the moods of a nation at war. Many are published here for the first time in 90 years, creating a unique, bittersweet portrayal of the Great War and a fascinating and very human, historical and artistic reference source." - Publisher. CONTENTS: An illustrators' war; 'Over by Christmas'; 'Who's for the trench, are you, my laddie?'; Frightfulness; From Plug Street to Regent Street; Business as usual; The blue pencil; Carrying on; Back to blighty; Shoulder to shoulder; Venus & Mars; Up, up, & away; 'The day'.. 1st. Hardcover. Very Good. Oblong.