Wake Up, America: World War I and the American Poster

by Walton H. Rawls, Maurice Rickards (Foreward)

The "War to End All Wars" did not begin as a popular cause. Americans were reluctant to get involved in what they viewed as Europe's war and reelected Woodrow Wilson on his promise to keep this nation out of it. When war became inevitable, public opinion had to be turned around. To do this, the government mobilized the talents of an incredible cadre of artists to create "pictorial publicity" for all aspects of the war effort - from recruiting to war relief to food and fuel conservation. Artists of the calibre of James Montgomery Flagg, Howard Chandler Christy, Charles Dana Gibson, J.C. Leyendecker and N.C. Wyeth produced an impressive -even magnificent - body of art, yet all but a handful of these posters have been almost totally forgotten. In this volume, historian Walton Rawls combines a stirring popular history of America's role in World War I with a remarkable collection of posters that boldly demonstrate their artistic worth. The text, while providing ample art-historical background, concentrates on the all-absorbing historical and political context in which the posters were created. The result is a fascinating look at these artifacts, which can be appreciated today both as graphic masterworks and as illustrations of a tragic historical episode.

Genres: World War I

288 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2001

Reviews

[Janelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

You’d be surprised but they didn’t actually talk about the posters nearly enough. I have a personal gripe with Mel Meehan who, on the back cover, said that “This book is the definitive bible for the WWI poster community.” Sure there’s lots of pictures of them, but how am I supposed to write about the posters, when Rawls doesn’t talk about the damn posters?!

[Book Club of One · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nicely compact history of the United States in World War I. Walton Rawls' Wake Up, America covers the history of word war I, from the early tensions through to some of the occupation in 1919. While posters are named in the title and are featured throughout the work, little is done for the majority of them beyond providing the contextualization.

Based on the title and the author's introduction I was expecting something akin to Picture This: World War I Posters and Visual Culture edited by Pearl James which actually spends time discussing featured images talking about the creator and analyzes the poster content.

A useful book for those wishing to read a short US centric history of world war I or view many examples of posters from the era, but scholars searching for information on poster artists would be better served elsewhere.