''Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel'' is a 1999 book written by Richard H. Minear, containing

Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss"
'' World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Creating his cartoons for the liberal New York magazine '' PM'', Seuss denounced

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

and Benito Mussolini and was highly critical of non-interventionists ("isolationists"), most notably

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

, who opposed US entry into the war. One cartoon depicted all Japanese Americans as latent traitors or Fifth column, fifth-columnists while at the same time other cartoons deplored the racism at home against Jews and blacks that harmed the war effort. His cartoons were strongly supportive of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's handling of the war, combining the usual exhortations to ration and contribute to the war effort with frequent attacks on Congress (especially the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party), parts of the press (such as the ''New York Daily News'', ''Chicago Tribune'' and ''Washington Times-Herald''), isolationists (notably

), and others for criticism of Roosevelt, criticism of aid to the Soviet Union, investigation of suspected Communism, communists, and other offenses that he depicted as leading to disunity and helping the Nazi Germany, Nazis, intentionally or inadvertently.

Reception

The book was well received. ''Entertainment Weekly'' gave it an "A" grade: "This is scathing, fascinating stuff, and with Minear's commentary, it provides a provocative history of wartime politics." ''People (magazine), People'' described the book as "How the Führer (Almost) Stole Christmas" and called it "a revelation", although (like many other reviewers) it noted with distaste Seuss's "incongruously, appallingly caricatured Japanese-Americans". Gaby Wood of ''The Guardian'' commented on the connection between Seuss's war cartoons and the messages in his later work for children, observing, "It is as if, having fought for common sense during the war, Dr Seuss performed a canny shift and turned non-sense to his advantage, making it the plain universal language we needed to hear."

Exhibitions and sequel

The book led to a number of museum exhibitions about Seuss's political work. In 2009, a follow-up volume was published entitled ''Dr. Seuss & Co. Go to War'', presenting Seuss's cartoons for ''PM'' together with those by other ''PM'' artists, including Saul Steinberg.André Schiffrin
"Combative Cartoons"
''Los Angeles Times'', September 27, 2009.

References

External links

"Dr. Seuss Went to War: A Collection of Political Cartoons"
at Geisel Library, UC San Diego Library Special Collections. {{DEFAULTSORT:Doctor Seuss Goes to War Dr. Seuss 1999 non-fiction books Editorial cartooning History books about World War II The New Press books