Summary review by 19th Century cartoon historian and author Richard Samuel West: 
"After more than 100 years of having to rely on Albert Bigelow Paine's entertaining but hagiographic and error-filled Thomas Nast His Period and His Pictures (1904), we finally have a biography of America's greatest political cartoonist worthy of replacing it. John Adler has created a meticulous, comprehensive, fair, and accurate biography of the father of American cartooning. With more than two decades devoted to studying Nast's entire massive output behind him, Adler is the perfect guide for 21st century readers interested in understanding Nast's cartoons, learning about the politics that prompted them, and discerning the impact they had. At the end of journeying through this massive tome, we are left with an appreciation of Nast and his extraordinary achievement like never before." 
The power and influence of Nast's cartoons largely emanated from their repetition over weeks or months as his stories unfolded and he banged his points home in Harper's Weekly, whose financial strength, reach and dominance made it the country's leading illustrated newspaper. This 830-page biography contains 1,000 Nast cartoons, illustrations, sketches, and paintings — 800 from Harper's Weekly and the balance from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper (25), New-York Illustrated News (47) and other publications, plus 100 cartoons on Nast-related topics by 20 other artists like Joseph Keppler of Puck — each with its principal characters identified and its content and context explained. The manually-created Index, predicated solely on Nast's work — provides a unique, encyclopedic reference resource. Visualize the downfall of corrupt Boss (William M.) Tweed and his Ring of thieves, the Civil War, Reconstruction, six Presidential campaigns, and Nast's legacy: the Republican Elephant, modern images of Santa Claus and Uncle Sam (all created by him) and the Democratic Donkey (popularized by him).

America's Most Influential Journalist and Premier Political Cartoonist: The Life, Times and Legacy of Thomas Nast

Biographies & Memoirs

Adler, John

Historical

Harpweek Press

The legendary Boss Tweed effectively controlled New York City from after the Civil War until his downfall in November 1871. A huge man, he and his Ring of Thieves appeared to be invincible as they stole an estimated $2 billion in today's dollars. In addition to the New York city and state governments, the Tweed Ring controlled the press except for Harper's Weekly. Short and slight Thomas Nast was the most dominant American political cartoonist of all time; using his pen as his sling in Harper's Weekly, he attacked Tweed almost single-handily before The New-York Times joined the battle in 1870. Where ""Doomed by Cartoon"" differs from previous books about Boss Tweed is its focus on looking at circumstances and events as Thomas Nast visualized them in his 160-plus cartoons, almost like a serialized but intermittent comic book covering 1866 through 1978. It has been organized to tell the Nast vs. Tweed story so that readers with an interest in politics history and/or cartoons will enjoy.

Doomed by Cartoon: How Cartoonist Thomas Nast and the New York Times Brought Down Boss Tweed and His Ring of Thieves

Hill, Draper

Morgan James Publishing

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