What do you think?
Rate this book
The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman
A satiric look at the Falkland Islands war evokes the mania, futility, and senseless horrors of all wars
48 pages, Hardcover
First published September 21, 1984
2 people are currently reading
100 people want to read
About the author
Raymond Briggs
166 books242 followersRaymond Redvers Briggs was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist, and author who had achieved critical and popular success among adults and children. He was best known for his story "The Snowman", which is shown every Christmas on British television in cartoon form and on the stage as a musical.
His first three major works, Father Christmas, Father Christmas Goes on Holiday (both featuring a curmudgeonly Father Christmas who complains incessantly about the "blooming snow"), and Fungus the Bogeyman, were in the form of comics rather than the typical children's-book format of separate text and illustrations. The Snowman (1978) was entirely wordless, and illustrated with only pencil crayons. The Snowman became Briggs' best-known work when in 1982 it was made into an Oscar nominated animated cartoon, that has been shown every year since on British television.
Briggs continued to work in a similar format, but with more adult content, in Gentleman Jim (1980), a sombre look at the working class trials of Jim and Hilda Bloggs, closely based on his parents. When the Wind Blows (1982) confronted the trusting, optimistic Bloggs couple with the horror of nuclear war, and was praised in the British House of Commons for its timeliness and originality. The topic was inspired after Briggs watched a Panorama documentary on nuclear contingency planning, and the dense format of the page was inspired by a Swiss publisher's miniature version of Father Christmas. This book was turned into a two-handed radio play with Peter Sallis in the male lead role, and subsequently an animated film, featuring John Mills and Peggy Ashcroft. The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman (1984) was a scathing denunciation of the Falklands War. However, Briggs continued to produce humour for children, in works such as the Unlucky Wally series and The Bear.
He was recognized as The Children's Author of the Year in 1993 by the British Book Awards. His graphic novel Ethel and Ernest, which portrayed his parents' 41-year marriage, won Best Illustrated Book in the 1999 British Book Awards.
His first three major works, Father Christmas, Father Christmas Goes on Holiday (both featuring a curmudgeonly Father Christmas who complains incessantly about the "blooming snow"), and Fungus the Bogeyman, were in the form of comics rather than the typical children's-book format of separate text and illustrations. The Snowman (1978) was entirely wordless, and illustrated with only pencil crayons. The Snowman became Briggs' best-known work when in 1982 it was made into an Oscar nominated animated cartoon, that has been shown every year since on British television.
Briggs continued to work in a similar format, but with more adult content, in Gentleman Jim (1980), a sombre look at the working class trials of Jim and Hilda Bloggs, closely based on his parents. When the Wind Blows (1982) confronted the trusting, optimistic Bloggs couple with the horror of nuclear war, and was praised in the British House of Commons for its timeliness and originality. The topic was inspired after Briggs watched a Panorama documentary on nuclear contingency planning, and the dense format of the page was inspired by a Swiss publisher's miniature version of Father Christmas. This book was turned into a two-handed radio play with Peter Sallis in the male lead role, and subsequently an animated film, featuring John Mills and Peggy Ashcroft. The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman (1984) was a scathing denunciation of the Falklands War. However, Briggs continued to produce humour for children, in works such as the Unlucky Wally series and The Bear.
He was recognized as The Children's Author of the Year in 1993 by the British Book Awards. His graphic novel Ethel and Ernest, which portrayed his parents' 41-year marriage, won Best Illustrated Book in the 1999 British Book Awards.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 20, 2019
Un libro para todas las edades, durísimo (como el libro mi anterior reseña) pero claro reflejo de la historia, en este puntualmente de la guerra de las Malvinas.
La "sinopsis" que le hicieron no deja nada a la imaginación pero es impresionante como mensaje antibelicista.
La "sinopsis" que le hicieron no deja nada a la imaginación pero es impresionante como mensaje antibelicista.
May 17, 2013
Raymond Briggs is one of the finest cartoonists that ever lived and an incredibly gifted and natural storyteller. The Snowman is one of the most pure and classic Christmas stories ever, while I’ll never forget reading Fungus the Bogeyman when I was a kid and loving every comically grotesque and funny panel. As an adult I rediscovered Briggs by reading When the Wind Blows, a powerful story of the Cold War, and Gentleman Jim, a deceptively simple story of a cleaner. Maybe the best Briggs book though is Ethel and Ernest, the story of Briggs’ parents and his tribute to them - simply put, beautiful. If you’re not bawling by the end, you’re not human. Seriously, if you want to read a comic with bags of heart and elegant art, read that book.
Amidst all of that is Briggs’ 1984 classic indictment of the Thatcher Administration and the Falklands conflict, now reprinted in the year of Thatcher’s death: The Tin Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman. The Tin Pot General was Argentine General Leopoldo Galtieri and of course Margaret Thatcher was the Old Iron Woman. In less than 50 pages, Briggs satirises the pettiness of the conflict that was the Falklands war while capturing the devastation war brings to those caught up in it.
He switches styles from brash cartoonish satirical wizardry to drawing in quiet pencils to depict the fallen and permanently injured soldiers - it’s a haunting sequence and a stark change of pace from the flamboyant way he draws Thatcher and Galtieri. Briggs wrote this as a satire on the Falklands but really it could be about any war. The losers are always ordinary people who are quickly forgotten by those who instigated the conflict in the first place, and pointless wars continue to be waged.
Because of the way Briggs draws Thatcher as kind of like Parker and Stone depict Barbara Streisand in South Park (Mecha Streisand!), robotic with cannons for breasts that open up and spew forth tax money, I wouldn’t say this is at all a book suitable for kids. And if not for that, then the muted, devastating way he shows the casualties of war ought to be carefully presented to youngsters as the drawings are quite blunt.
The Tin Pot General and the Old Iron Woman is well worth picking up to remind ourselves of the true cost of war and the true nature of nationalism - it is another defiantly intelligent and brilliant work from the master, Raymond Briggs.
Amidst all of that is Briggs’ 1984 classic indictment of the Thatcher Administration and the Falklands conflict, now reprinted in the year of Thatcher’s death: The Tin Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman. The Tin Pot General was Argentine General Leopoldo Galtieri and of course Margaret Thatcher was the Old Iron Woman. In less than 50 pages, Briggs satirises the pettiness of the conflict that was the Falklands war while capturing the devastation war brings to those caught up in it.
He switches styles from brash cartoonish satirical wizardry to drawing in quiet pencils to depict the fallen and permanently injured soldiers - it’s a haunting sequence and a stark change of pace from the flamboyant way he draws Thatcher and Galtieri. Briggs wrote this as a satire on the Falklands but really it could be about any war. The losers are always ordinary people who are quickly forgotten by those who instigated the conflict in the first place, and pointless wars continue to be waged.
Because of the way Briggs draws Thatcher as kind of like Parker and Stone depict Barbara Streisand in South Park (Mecha Streisand!), robotic with cannons for breasts that open up and spew forth tax money, I wouldn’t say this is at all a book suitable for kids. And if not for that, then the muted, devastating way he shows the casualties of war ought to be carefully presented to youngsters as the drawings are quite blunt.
The Tin Pot General and the Old Iron Woman is well worth picking up to remind ourselves of the true cost of war and the true nature of nationalism - it is another defiantly intelligent and brilliant work from the master, Raymond Briggs.
September 12, 2023
A biting satire/criticism of the Falkland war drawn as if it were a kids picture book. It shows the futility of war, and how the people perpetrating it really have nothing on the line. Just spending money for their ego.
March 3, 2019
I distinctly remember seeing this book from time to time in my primary school library, however, I never bothered to pick it up (and I wasn't aware until now that it was a Raymond Briggs story!).
Having finally read it, it plainly describes the battle over the Falkland Islands and the ultimate futility of such a venture. Raymond Briggs never disappoints, even with such a short, simple picture book.
Having finally read it, it plainly describes the battle over the Falkland Islands and the ultimate futility of such a venture. Raymond Briggs never disappoints, even with such a short, simple picture book.
December 9, 2012
Wonderful illustrations and spare text break the futility of the Falklands war down to the level of a schoolyard fight between two Alpha bullies. The protagonists are cartoon characters whose appearance and actions invite the reader to laugh at their antics as they each fight to defend the island they claimed to have "bagsied" first. They are drawn in bright colours with lots of nationalistic red, white and blue splashed about to emphasise the point.
But the reader is confronted with reality when the outcome of this adventure is revealed. Real people are maimed and die. They return home to a country trying to hide the true cost of the war. Here Briggs uses a more realistic style of muted pencil drawings to make his point.
This is one of the most effective examples I have seen of slamming home a strong message per media of a visual text. I used this book with Grade Ten English classes with great success.
But the reader is confronted with reality when the outcome of this adventure is revealed. Real people are maimed and die. They return home to a country trying to hide the true cost of the war. Here Briggs uses a more realistic style of muted pencil drawings to make his point.
This is one of the most effective examples I have seen of slamming home a strong message per media of a visual text. I used this book with Grade Ten English classes with great success.
January 31, 2013
This was a terrible excuse for a book and to think that trees died to print it.The pictures are not acceptable for children and the content is enough to give kids nightmares. Who wants their kids to see a robotic woman shooting stuff from her breasts? If you are going to write a childrens book do so with taste! There are many wonderful books that deal with war and are tasteful.You dont need to be a shock jock to get your point across.
April 25, 2013
Unlike a few other reviewers, it took me all of two minutes to realize this wasn't a children's book. Rather it is a very sly satire of the Falkland's/Malvina's War. I just pulled it out of the occasion of Mag's passing. I still wouldn't show it to my middle school students or my own children at home.
It's brilliant and raw and I wish Bush II had read it before tossing us into the Iraqi Meatgrinder.
It's brilliant and raw and I wish Bush II had read it before tossing us into the Iraqi Meatgrinder.
January 15, 2013
Wow. Whatta punch delivered by Briggs. I hope Maggie read this just after the Falklands and it stung really badly.
April 8, 2013
Very powerful children's book about the Falkland Islands war. Re-read on the occasion of Thatcher's passing.
November 18, 2019
I think it's fair to say that Briggs hated Thatcher at least as much as I did.
Read
September 5, 2022What a peculiar, miserable little book*; it was about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the face. I mean, I'm not a fan of Margaret Thatcher nor of a certain South American dictator (my bad that I don't think his name penetrated childhood my brain enough that I could actually recollect it). But I'm not entirely sure I appreciate how either of those were portrayed. Guess my sensibilities find it difficult to find the line between righteous parody and rampant sexism/racism.
*I had to look up what the term "bagsied" means. Sure, there were context clues, but I needed some explicit background on the word. The university library I borrowed this from shelves this book in the juvenile collection which, wow! is a big fail on the part of the library to even have a basic understanding of what they have in hand.
*I had to look up what the term "bagsied" means. Sure, there were context clues, but I needed some explicit background on the word. The university library I borrowed this from shelves this book in the juvenile collection which, wow! is a big fail on the part of the library to even have a basic understanding of what they have in hand.
September 30, 2018
This is a great story BUT the illustrations were sooooo inappropriate for my young boys. We got this from a free book yard and this book was in the children's section. The image of the Old Iron Woman shooting from her iron breasts with her iron legs wide open was disturbing and for me, disgusting. I wish I had read it before I picked it for the kids' bedtime story. This would be better as a book without pictures if you're going to use images like that.
August 25, 2018
- Wonderful Illustrations
- On Point delivered
- Weird
- Not a Kid book
- Shows the effect of Post-war on a society.
- On Point delivered
- Weird
- Not a Kid book
- Shows the effect of Post-war on a society.
September 15, 2021
The “some men” page alone makes this incredibly powerful.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 23, 2022
I saw an article about Raymond Briggs after his recent death, and got hold of three of his adult books. All are quite different, poignant and creative, reflecting the changing world.
January 1, 2023
Never a truer word written or illustrated. The perfect but brutal art of social commentary.
January 3, 2023
Briggs expresses his distaste for nationalism and the futility of the Falklands conflict as tinpot and iron clash.
Read
July 23, 2025The tonal change in art style took me completely by surprised and is incredibly effective.
Read
November 9, 2016WOW. Not subtle. But seriously, schools could teach this.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews