Review of "Dictators in Cartoons: Unmasking Monsters and Mocking Tyrants," edited by Tony Husband

 Review of

Dictators in Cartoons: Unmasking Monsters and Mocking Tyrants, edited by Tony Husband, ISBN 9781784046149

Five out of five stars

The best propaganda is always visual

 There are many ways to express the belittlement of political opponents, but the best by far is the political cartoon. The best has the power to alter the very power structure of the political landscape and motivate a population to engage in warfare against their current enemies. The easiest targets are the pompous and arrogant, which most dictators are.

 This book contains some of the best political cartoons ever produced, as the title states, the subject matter is the most prominent dictators down through history. It is interesting that the first true cartoon in this book features Vlad the Impaler. The primary focus is Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin and to a lesser extent Franco and Mao Zedong.  Lesser lights of the modern world such as Idi Amin, General Pinochet, Saddam Hussein and Colonel Gaddafi also are given a little ink.

 Even though the Second World War ended 80 years ago, the images in these cartoons are still capable of generating the desired animosity to the other side. They are some of the most effective propaganda tools ever created and it is easy to see how they motivated the populations to engage in the brutal, dehumanizing actions of total war.

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