The idea for this book first came to me when I was sitting in the Russian State Library in Moscow reading the satirical magazine Novyi Satirikon, which was published between 1913 and 1918. Struck by its coverage of the First World War, I wondered how its response to this national crisis would compare with that of equivalent periodicals in other combatant countries. Novy Satirikon was very aware of the German magazine Simplicissimus, and it reproduced cartoons from the French magazine Le Rire. They, like Novy Satirikon, were illustrated humorous-satirical weeklies addressed to an educated readership. In this line-up, Punch was the obvious choice for Britain. The resulting book is a study of the impact of the First World War in four countries, exploring this through the medium of what their respective populations laughed at, the stories they liked to tell about themselves, and the ones they liked to be told.
www.cambridgescholars.com/laughter-and-war