The Life We Live, the Death We Die, a booklet of caricatures by John Olday. [London]: Freedom Press, [the second half of the 1940s]. English.
Twenty one caricatures blatantly depicting Europe during World War II: street fights, the bombing of cities, wounded veterans, beggars and more. Bound in an original cardboard cover, printed in red and black.
John Olday (1905-1977; born Arthur William Oldag) was a German-English caricaturist, journalist and playwright of the anarchist circle.
In his youth, he took part in a row of coup attempts and uprisings in Germany (including the Kiel Mutiny, the November Revolution and the Spartacist Uprising) and after the Nazi rise to power, escaped to England. In 1943, he defected from the British Army and turned to underground anarchistic activity – distributing anti-war posters, poems and caricatures (including the booklet before us). After the war he was sentenced to a year of imprisonment due to his defection.
[21] leaves, approx. 24X35 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains (mostly on the first leaves). A fold line in the center of the booklet. Tears and open tears along the edges and fold line in some of the leaves. The cover is worn and damaged. There is a large tear to the front cover, along almost the entire fold line.