Picture the Great War

Our exclusively illustrated book was published for the centenary of World War I, and presents special pictorial documents of the war, mostly unseen before. Most pictures belong to the World War I collection of the National Library, and can be seen in its Collection of Posters and Small Prints, and Photo Collection. The editors of the album, together with Osiris Publishing House, have selected more than 600 pictures that mostly depict war scenes and the hinterland.

As early as when the very events of the First World War were underway, The Hungarian National Library launched an ambitious international collecting movement as a result of which we now have an especially rich international collection. As our predecessors aimed at conserving also the “memories of the general feeling”, a great number of these pictorial documents reflect the propaganda of the warring nations. Both our allies and enemies of that time are portrayed. Among the pictures of the album you can find large sized graphic posters, postcards, battlefield photos, and many more types of documents from important text messages to playing cards. These printed materials at a time were integral part of the everyday life, and the public could see them frequently on the walls and in the newspapers. As everyday pieces of media they can provide us today with a detailed picture of that era.

In this bilingual volume, the introduction and the captions can be read in both Hungarian and English. The material is ordered in twelve thematic chapters, each of which is introduced with a literary quotation by a writer who lived the war at one or the other side of the front line. Enrollment, leaders, battles, camp life, hinterland, orphans and widows, destruction and wish for peace are all present among the topics. The book won the Prime Minister’s Special Award at the 2014 Beautiful Hungarian Book contest.