Review by Choice Review
Gilbert (English, Assumption Univ.) examines US war politics through political cartoons, concentrating primarily on WW I and WW II, the Cold War, and the war on terror but peripherally touching on the wars on poverty, women, and truth. For the task, Gilbert chose the art of James Montgomery Flagg, Dr. Seuss (Ted Geisel), Ollie Harrington, and Ann Telnaes but does not sufficiently explain his choices. The book is crammed with extended definitions of caricature and other terms; contextual background information; quotes (too many?) from a wide range of thinkers from different fields; strong opinions of the author; theoretical and "what if" musings; and, of course, interpretive analyses of the featured cartoonists' works. Gilbert dwells on the themes of his chosen cartoonists: civic duty implied in Flagg's "I Want You" poster featuring Uncle Sam, hawkishness displayed in Dr. Seuss's animal imagery, discrimination and the poor treatment of Black children in Harrington's cartoons in Black and Communist newspapers, and perverted democratic principles under Trump in Telnaes's art. The chapters are uneven in their interpretations. Critical analysis of Telnaes's cartoons comes up short because the author devotes considerable space to personally blasting Trump rather than showing how Telnaes's drawings do that. Nevertheless, this is a valuable book about a field that is fading away. Summing Up: Recommended. With reservations. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --John A. Lent, independent scholar
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
