Until his death in 1957, Wyndham Lewis was a radical force in British art and literature. He was a key figure in modernism and the founder of Britain’s only true avant-garde movement—Vorticism. As a master of art and letters he earned the respect of T S Eliot and Augustus John in his lifetime and has provided inspiration for numerous other figures in art, literature, and music, including the sculptor Henry Moore, the blues rock experimentalist Captain Beefheart, and pop music pioneer David Bowie. Yet in spite of this impressive cultural legacy, Lewis’s reputation has been shadowed by his brief and regretful praise of Hitler in the 1930s. Cast out of favor for the second half of the 20th century, Lewis is only recently beginning to experience a revival of interest.   Published to accompany an exhibition of Lewis’s work at IWM North in Manchester—the first major exhibition in over forty years—this book offers a renewed perspective on this  intriguing and unusual artist and presents fifty of his most significant pieces in stunning full color.  

Wyndham Lewis: Art, Life and War

Arts & Photography

Slocombe, Richard

Individual Artists

Imperial War Museums

Daddy, what did you do in the Great War? Don’t waste bread! Save two slices every day and defeat the ‘U’ boat. Some of the most dramatic and compelling efforts to rally the public during World War I came in the form of posters. Posters of the First World War collects more than one hundred posters from America, Britain, France, Germany, and Italy that showcase renewed concern among the warring nations with national character and conduct. Many of the recruitment posters liken the act of joining the military to becoming a man, introducing the now-familiar figures of Tommy in the trenches or the swarthy French poilu. Others are concerned with rationing or fund-raising, urging Americans, for instance, to “Beat back the Hun with Liberty Bonds!” In Germany, where a blockade prohibited the import of food and other necessities, posters suggest resourceful alternatives, encouraging children to collect nettles and fruit seeds for oil. Many of the posters in this collection remain iconic, but others―while no less fascinating―have been largely forgotten. Posters of the First World War provides a rich slice of social history, pairing the posters with an explanation of what they were trying to achieve and their cultural and social significance.

Posters of the First World War

History & Criticism

Throughout World War I, the British government employed a diverse group of artists to produce a rich visual record of wartime events. But the art from this important collection often far exceeds this objective, giving voice to both the artist and the soldiers who are depicted. Art from the First World War contains more than fifty images chosen from among the Imperial War Museum’s impressive collection of works by war artists. Art from the First World War features some of the most well-known British artists of the twentieth century, from the brothers John and Paul Nash to William Orpen, Stanley Spencer, and John Singer Sargent, whose Gassed shows a line of wounded soldiers blinded by a mustard gas attack. On the occasion of the centenary, the Imperial War Museum is bringing this book out in a new edition.

Art from the First World War

“Keep calm and carry on.” In 1939, Britain’s Ministry of Information produced this now-ubiquitous reminder to its citizens in the event of widely predicted air attacks. But in the six consecutive years before Germany’s surrender to Allied forces, the British public would feel keenly both the physical and moral hardships of war. To boost morale and raise awareness of how citizens’ efforts might help―or hinder―the wartime effort, one of the most effective forms the British government had at its disposal was the poster. British Posters of the Second World War presents one hundred posters from this important period in world history. Some proclaimed in bold type that “Victory of the Allies is assured” and featured stalwart British soldiers alongside exaggerated enemy figures. Others, however, hung on the walls of bus and railway stations, town halls, and pubs, called for continued self-sufficiency, urging Britons to raise chickens and join “pig clubs.” As the threat of espionage came to be regarded as ever-present, another category of posters cautioned soldiers and civilians alike against talking about the war: “Furtive Fritz is always listening” warned one; another, “Keep mum―she’s not so dumb.” Drawing on the Imperial War Museum’s impressive collection of materials related to conflicts involving Britain in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, British Posters of the Second World War explores these campaigns and many others with an introduction and explanatory text by the museum’s senior curator, Richard Slocombe.

British Posters of the Second World War

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Books by Slocombe, Richard

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Slocombe, Richard. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Wyndham Lewis: Art, Life and War

Posters of the First World War

Art from the First World War

British Posters of the Second World War