Posters of the First World War, David Bownes and Robert Fleming, Shire Publications, 2014, 172p, £10-00. ISBN 978-0-74781-428-3.  

With over seventy colour reproductions of Great War poster, David Bownes and Robert Fleming provide us substantial evidence of how the war effort was supported by a propaganda campaign waged with posters of various kinds. They reflect the moods and priorities of the war effort at various stages of the military campaign: some were overtly recruitment posters, some were aimed at supporting the home front, some were aimed at recruiting an alternative women's workforce.

Inevitably Kitchener's famous poster is included but the range is extraordinary. One that caught my attention was issued in bilingual versions, Welsh and English, and was entitled ‘The Scrap of Paper' or ‘Y Darn Papur'. It was a direct propaganda to emphasise that the German Chancellor had referred to the Treaty of London [1839] which guaranteed the neutrality of Belgium as ‘a scrap of paper'.

Other posters remind us that recruitment for this war occurred all over the world, in Canada, India and Australia, helping to stress exactly who did come to assist in this enormous venture.

The quality of the artwork and design that was devoted to this campaign is another trait that emerges from this collection. Some of the most accomplished artists and designers of that rea had devoted themselves to the war effort.

The introduction is a very helpful essay about exactly how poster propaganda had emerged from the late 19thCentury and how it evolved during the war-time emergency.