Posters of the Cold War

Extraordinary propaganda posters produced by the superpowers and their critics fill the pages of this fascinating book.

During the Cold War, the poster was a key medium, used to produce both fear and loyalty, and to facilitate a visual dialogue between the superpowers and their critics. This definitive survey showcases poster design from the late 1940s, when the Iron Curtain was first drawn across Europe, to the early 1990s, when Communism in the Soviet Union collapsed. Selected from twenty countries to demonstrate the wide international reach of the conflict, Posters of the Cold War is an extraordinary retrospective that features specially commissioned photographs of rarely seen images by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Grapus Design Collective, and Peter Kennard.

Extraordinary propaganda posters produced by the superpowers and their critics fill the pages of this fascinating book.

During the Cold War, the poster was a key medium, used to produce both fear and loyalty, and to facilitate a visual dialogue between the superpowers and their critics. This definitive survey showcases poster design from the late 1940s, when the Iron Curtain was first drawn across Europe, to the early 1990s, when Communism in the Soviet Union collapsed. Selected from twenty countries to demonstrate the wide international reach of the conflict, Posters of the Cold War is an extraordinary retrospective that features specially commissioned photographs of rarely seen images by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Grapus Design Collective, and Peter Kennard.

David Crowley teaches history at the Royal College of Art, London. He has published widely on the history of graphic design and is a specialist on the culture of Eastern Europe in the 20th century. He is the consultant curator of Cold War Modern, a major V&A exhibition.