By Carl Giles
Written and compiled by John Field
Publisher: Express Newspapers
ISBN: 978-0-600-62113-3
Far be it from me to accuse a British newspaper of a bombastic and misleading headline, but this Express Newspapers book covers just 50 years. Fortunately that 50 years offered Giles a rich and varied assortment of news items and historical events to turn into his exquisite cartoons.
The book is divided up into decades, with a brief explanation of the news item that inspired each cartoon printed along the top of the page. There’s also a section near the beginning that offers snippets from the various Christmas Annual introductions made by famous and influential figures from Tommy Cooper to Prince Philip.
At 176 pages, there’s a lot in here to take in – you just can’t help being drawn into the detail of the cartoons – and the brief explanatory text about the subject of the cartoon is often needed when Giles has moulded it into a gag and the historical context has either been forgotten or is too obscure to be obvious.
The CCGB gets a brief mention in the forward, although sadly we don’t make the topic of an actual cartoon!
And if you liked that: Annual collections of his work are still being produced, so keep a look out for them.
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