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9781850430506

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Those who sought to mock Hitler with pen and paper faced a grisly paradox: how to find enough humor in Nazism to make fun of it. Indeed the search for appropriate subject matter must have been difficult because there is no gentle heckling here, no use of any soft edges that are usually at least a part of caricature. The danger of caricature is that by mocking it can reduce the sense of reality of the power of that being mocked. Drawing cartoons of an early Hitler might have deflected audiences from seeing the real dangers he posed and made him seem solely as a fringe, comic-opera figure. Instead, according to Zeman, from the early 1920's on, caricaturists used their talent to expose that danger. Using 178 illustrations, Zeman tries to show how the caricaturists attacked Hit. let, first from within Germany, but after 1933, from outside. He also finds the caricaturists' art a useful way to trace Hitler's rise to power. In an informative and well-written text, the author describes the rise of Hitler and the Nazis and tells how the individual cartoons illustrated each element of that rise. Beginning with a brief section on the rise of the caricaturist's art, Zeman proceeds chronologically to discuss the rise of Nazism, interspersing historical and artistic discussion. Such artists as George Grosz, David Fitzpatrick, John Heartfield, and, perhaps most impressive, David Low, are provided boxed biographical portraits, and their works are given ample display. The caricatures themselves are often funny and right on target, e.g., Hitler as King Kong holding captive the female named Freedom. The illustrations provide an unusual entry point to understanding Nazism. Their purported power in raising its specter, especially to American audiences, grows with every reexamination. In that sense, the title is understated: the artists did not wish just to heckle Hitler, but to bring him down. (Kirkus Reviews)

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