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The First World War, a new low in the annals of armed conflict, coincided with a golden age for the relatively new art of advertising. Striking and colourful posters were produced throughout the years 1914–18 to recruit soldiers, promote investment, keep up morale and, naturally, to vilify the enemy; prominent artists including Alfred Leete paired bold images with punchy text to maximise impact. The selection in this book offers an informative guide to the range of posters created and to how they were displayed around the nation, and explores the public's increasing dissatisfaction with being patronised and goaded. From the iconic, commanding Your Country Needs YOU! to the anxious domestic scene of Daddy, What Did YOU Do in the War?, and including the infamous depiction of a bayoneting in Back Him Up!, this book puts the reader in the shoes of the Great War 'man in the street'.

Posters of the First World War