War Primer

War Primer

In this singular book written during World War Two, Bertolt Brecht presents a devastating visual and lyrical attack on war under modern capitalism. He takes photographs from newspapers and popular magazines, and adds short lapidary verses to each in a unique attempt to understand the truth of war using mass media. Pictures of catastrophic bombings, propaganda portraits of leading Nazis, scenes of unbearable tragedy on the battlefield - all these images contribute to an anthology of horror, from which Brecht's perceptions are distilled in poems that are razor-sharp, angry and direct. The result is an outstanding literary memorial to World War Two and one of the most spontaneous, revealing and moving of Brecht's works.

War Primer 2

War Primer 2 is a limited edition book by Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin that physically inhabits the pages of Bertolt Brecht's remarkable publication War Primer (Libris, 1998). The original was published in German in 1955 under the title Kriegsfibel. War Primer 2 was published by MACK in 2011 and sold out immediately. While War Primer was concerned with images of the Second World War, War Primer 2 updates Brecht's piece with images of the conflict generated by both sides of the so-called "War on Terror". War Primer 2 was produced in the artists' studio in a limited edition of 100 copies, applying silkscreen and offset printed images to 100 copies of a 1998 edition (Libris, London) of Bertolt Brecht's 1955 War Primer. This digital version combines critical and academic essays about War Primer with a screen based rendition of the artist's book. - from MAPP web page.

The Lancet