PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"British filmmaker Sarhandi-Williams (Bosnian War Posters) spotlights the perseverance of art during war in this insightful collection of poetry and street art created by Ukrainians since the 2022 Russian invasion. Contending that “the Arts allow us to see beyond the shifting daily headlines... to core human values and deeper spiritual concerns,” Sarhandi-Williams gathers poems from a website hosted by the State Arts Agency of Ukraine, “where Ukrainian citizens can freely upload their work.” The tone of the poems varies; Anna Schmidt’s merciless “Wild Orcs” likens Russian soldiers to the savage goblins from The Lord of the Rings (a “mindless horde... no longer human”), while in Nataliia Samruk’s rueful “The Keys to Happiness,” a woman “still trembling from having survived” recalls that she’s holding “the keys to past happiness,” including one “from the station waiting room/ Where no more trains will arrive for ages.” The volume’s visual art embodies Ukrainian resilience, whether in photos of a young woman posing in front of a tank as if she were a fashion model, or folk artist Varvara Logvyn’s vibrant images of plants and flowers painted on steel antitank obstacles. This thoughtful assemblage brings into focus the myriad responses Ukrainians have had to the invasion. It’s an enlightening and worthwhile volume."

ANDREY KURKOV

“This book will guide you through today’s Ukraine more honestly than any future history might.”

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“Filmmaker Sarhandi (Evil Doesn’t Live Here) delivers an unusual history of the Bosnian War (1992–1995) focused on propaganda posters created and distributed by various players in the conflict. Noting that posters “were a cheap and effective way of disseminating information” at a time when normal communications were disrupted and most news came by word of mouth, Sarhandi describes “rival ideological groups” tearing down each other’s work; profiles members of the Trio design studio in Sarajevo, the Forum of Tuzla Citizens, and other activist collectives; lucidly explains the Balkans’ complex political, religious, and ethnic divisions; and sketches how the rise of nationalist parties in Serbia and Croatia contributed to the conflict. But the book shines in its presentation and analysis of the posters themselves, many of which reappropriated imagery from the Spanish Civil War and WWII or recast commercial iconography (Mickey Mouse, Coca-Cola) in order to make their case. Detailed captions explain the meaning and background of each artwork, shedding light on the origins of anti-Muslim sentiment in Croatia, the horrors of the siege of Sarajevo, and Serbian nationalists’ use of Vietnam War imagery to warn the U.S. to stay out of the conflict. Handsomely presented and rigorously detailed, this is a captivating look at the art of propaganda."

BOJAN HADŽIHALILOVIČ 
Trio studios, Sarajevo

“Bosnian War Posters is, without a doubt, one of the most significant books about the war in Bosnia. It is not a romanticised visual biography of the conflict, but an almost punky book about good and bad, love and death, the role of the media, and the truth.”

Bojan Hadžihalilović, a founder member of Trio Studios, has contributed a short foreword to the second edition.

CAROL WELLS
Center for the Study of Political Graphics (CSPG), Los Angeles

"The book is an important contribution to understanding the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It also shows the value of posters as primary historical documentation. Most poster books use graphics to illustrate their perspective; this one uses them to illustrate the complexity of the struggle and the fluidity of the sides—an important lesson for understanding social movements or wars, or anything else for that matter. The way the posters are used is exactly what CSPG is trying to do."

Carol Wells, the founder and president of CSPG, has written a foreword to the second edition.