Poster in History

by Max Gallo

Reproduces posters that best reflect the social and political ideas of each era since the French Revolution

Genres: Art, History, Nonfiction, Design, Art History

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

He was a French writer, historian and politician.

The son of Italian immigrants, Max Gallo's early career was in journalism. At the time he was a Communist (until 1956). In 1974, he joined the Socialist Party. On April 26, 2007, the French Academy recorded his candidacy for its Seat 24, formerly held by the late Jean-François Revel. He was elected to the French Academy on 31 May 2007.

Reviews

[reveurdart · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good primer. I appreciated Max Gallo's choices in posters and succinctly expressed writing.

If you're looking for an introduction to how posters have been used as a propaganda tool, then this book is quite useful.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A generous selection of posters from the 18th century to the 1970s. Commercial, political and artistique.

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is really “The Poster in French History, with a few others thrown in”. Part of this is because it begins with the French revolution and partly, I think, because the museums the author had easiest access to are in Paris, such as the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.

Second most common is probably Italy and the Museo Civico.

Some of them are amazing. This is a “poster by Ludwig Hohlwein advertising Lufthansa’s flights to Berlin for the Olympics, 1936.”:



Or this, a “British poster of 1942-43”:



Some of the most amazing are from the Axis side of the war:



There’s also an essay in the back about “The Development of Poster Art” by Carlo Arturo Quintavalle.. It has more text and much smaller images. In both sections, the images are far more descriptive than the text surround them.

[José Van Rosmalen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit boek is in het Nederlands vertaald onder de titel affiches, de tijd in beeld. Het staat al tientallen jaren in mijn boekenkast, maar ik heb het nu pas gelezen. Het is een interessanter boek dan ik had verwacht. Het vertelt de geschiedenis van gedrukte affiches van het einde van de achttiende eeuw tot de jaren zeventig van de twintigste eeuw, van Franse revolutie tot Flower Power. De auteur legt steeds verbanden met de maatschappelijke context. Affiches kunnen gebruikt worden door de machthebbers van een regime zoals de nazi’s en ook juist door verzet tegen machthebbers, als uiting van protest. Het gaat hierbij om het gebruik van woorden, maar vooral ook om beeldtaal. In de reclame speelt deze een grote rol, ze appelleert aan vaak onbewuste verlangens van mensen. Het is een imponerend boek met vaak prachtige afbeeldingen. Een spiegel van de maatschappij die steeds weer verandert.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really not sure how to rate this one. Going with 4, YMMV. It's a 45 year old book written by a European and reads like it, inherent biases and attitudes towards the non European world. Within that it's an excellent social history of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. The tying in of commercial art with the growth of capitalism and the development of the middle class and worker's movements.

One of the still more timely quotes: [on the nature of fascism and Nazism...]...an inhuman and regressive response to the most profound questions facing man in the twentieth century. One could not fight fascism and Nazism with arguments that appealed only to reason, because those ideologies relied not on reason...but fears and motives

[Tascha Folsoi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have an old hardback copy from the 1972 translation. The prints are beautiful and he provides a really wonderful overview of the interplay of history and the poster with respect to France, England, Italy, Russia, and the United States from the era of the French Revolution through the post WWII period. I could read this once a year. it's really interesting.

[Belousov Evgeny]

Уникальная книга на тему массовых коммуникаций в Европе, пока не было интернета и телевидения). Агитации, пропаганда, приход к власти нацистов, коммунистов, призывы к войне, борьба за права...