Propagandopolis

This vivid and fascinating collection of propaganda spans over a century - a visual feast illustrating how persuasion, manipulation and fear were used to influence populations around the world. Do you know what propaganda looks like? A mural showing Saddam Hussein on horseback. A colossal cut-out of Benito Mussolini mounted on Milan Cathedral. A film of North Korea's Kim Jong Un parading an intercontinental ballistic missile. A Pakistani newspaper advertisement calling for 'Jehad' (sic). A soldier firing condoms from his gun in a Ugandan AIDS awareness and prevention campaign. A traditional Azerbaijani rug celebrating the achievements of Soviet space travel, with portraits of Gagarin, Tereshkova (and of course Lenin). Juxtaposing material from conflicting ideologies, Propagadopolis presents the broadest range of shocking, unusual and visually arresting images, encompassing all regions and eras of the modern age to demonstrate how propaganda has been wielded to evoke emotions, rally support or instill fear - to leave an indelible mark on the collective consciousness. Extended captions explain the fascinating stories behind this material, contextualising the strategies used by governments, agencies and individuals seeking to influence, deceive and demoralise through the use of propaganda. Containing many previously unpublished examples and with an enlightening introduction from Robert Peckham, author of Fear: An Alternative History of the World (2023), Propagandopolis is an essential visual guide to the enduring potency of the most pervasive, manipulative and persuading images of our time.

Bradley Davies is a historical researcher based in London. He began Propagandopolis as a project in early 2018 which has since amassed over 300,000 followers online. He is also building a digital archive of propaganda posters, cartoons and other ephemera, which he intends to be the internet's largest and most accurate archive of propaganda artefacts. Propagandopolis can be found on all major social media platforms @propagandopolis. The archive can be found at propaganda.pictures. Robert Peckham is a cultural historian and the author of the critically acclaimed book Fear: An Alternative History of the World. He was previously Professor of History and MB Lee Endowed Professor in the Humanities and Medicine at the University of Hong Kong. He has held fellowships at Cambridge, Oxford, LSE, and King's College London, and been a visiting scholar at NYU. A fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he has published in Foreign Affairs, New Statesman, Prospect, the Guardian, the Independent and the Times Literary Supplement. He lives in New York. The book has been compiled and edited by Damon Murray and Stephen Sorrell who have been publishing critically acclaimed books on design and architecture since 2004.