A thoughtful and visually striking military survey.
A hybrid history and photographic gallery of 20th-century war machines.
After more than three decades as a research physicist with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, author Miller retired in 2003and focused his attention on photography. In this book, the third and final volume in a trilogy of history and photography books centered on 20th-century weaponry, he blends his knowledge of modern warfare with his keen eye for composition. Its first half provides a narrative overview of the last century’s “unprecedented calamity” of destructiveness, as humanity’s inclination toward violence combined with technological advancements. In the long view of world history, Miller notes, “one cannot help but be struck by the extreme spasms of violence and destruction.” The author expertly traces the development of war machines from the Industrial Revolution through two world wars and a string of Cold War conflicts, adding photos, timelines, and text-box vignettes along the way. Although the work is centered on technology, it also pays ample attention to the imperialism, racism, and ideological divisions that drove the century’s wars. The book’s second half features more than 100 original photographs of war machines taken at museums, historic sites, and parks around the United States and Canada. The well-lit and artfully framed black-and-white images, accompanied by informative text, provide stark commentary on the relationship between technological advancement and a sense of ambivalence toward human life. Miller’s extraordinary photos, which show such items as early Maxim machine guns, World War I–era tanks, massive battleships from World War II, and 1970s Pave Low helicopters, provide tragic reminders of humanity’s investment in deadly machines. Readers who are already familiar with this subject matter won’t find very much that’s new in the narrative portions, although the author’s research is solid and he presents it in an approachable yet learned style. However, the photographic second half is a frankly stunning commentary on the last century’s technological priorities.
A thoughtful and visually striking military survey.Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-9862127-2-7
Page Count: 208
Publisher: The Chelsea Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
A beautifully produced, engaging homage.
Celebrating a beloved artist.
Published to coincide with a major exhibition of works by British-born artist David Hockney (b. 1937) at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, this lushly illustrated volume offers a detailed overview of the artist’s life and work, along with chapters focused on his various styles and subject matter, a chronology, and a glossary of the many techniques he employed in his art, including camera lucida, computer, and video. Contributors of essays include noted art historians and curators, such as Norman Rosenthal, who edited the volume; Simon Schama; Anne Lyles; James Cahill; and François Michaud. Growing up in the north of England, Hockney was drawn to the light and sparkle that he found in Hollywood movies. When he finally arrived in Los Angeles, the sunlit landscapes inspired him, and his new sense of artistic freedom concurred with sexual freedom: As a gay man, he felt liberated from the constraints that had weighed on him in Britain, even in the “relative Bohemia” of the Royal College of Art. Essayists reflect on his artistic interests, such as landscapes, portraiture, flowers, and the opera—for which he created boldly exuberant sets—as well as on his influences and experimentation. Michaud examines the impact on Hockney of a visit to Paris in the 1970s, where he became familiar with Henri Matisse and his contemporaries from museum exhibitions. In the 1990s, visiting his mother and friends in Yorkshire, Hockney painted both outdoors and in the studio, experimenting with various media—including the photocopier and fax machine—as he worked to render the woodsy landscape. As a companion to the exhibition, the volume offers stunning reproductions of Hockney’s prolific works. Enormously popular with museumgoers, Hockney, Rosenthal exults, “transforms the ordinary and the everyday into the remarkable.”
A beautifully produced, engaging homage.Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9780500029527
Page Count: 328
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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