Soviet War Posters c. 1940–1945: the Tass Poster Series from the Hallward Library, University of Nottingham

The Soviet War Posters c. 1940–1945: the Tass Poster Series from the Hallward Library, University of Nottingham contains a fascinating collection of posters produced in Soviet Russia during the Great Patriotic War (i.e. World War II). Wartime propagandists produced these posters to inspire and comfort Soviet citizens into continuing the struggle to repel the armies of Nazi Germany from the Russian fatherland. Adam Matthew Publications, Marborough, England, collected and printed 137 posters on two microfilm reels. The set contain the posters in color along a set of black and white reproductions. A hundred-plus page guide written by Professor Derek W. Spring, History Department, University of Nottingham, which includes an introduction by Dr. Dorothy B. Johnston, Keeper of Manuscripts and Special Collections, University of Nottingham, precedes the poster prints. Spring offers a brief history on the significance of posters to Russia during its Civil War of 1918-21 and World War II while introducing the various artists of these drawings. Most posters in the collection had been produced between 1943 during the Battle of Stalingrad up to late-1945, seven months after the Nazi surrender. Depicting the difficult trials and social conditions during the war, the posters portray a story of Russia's revival from the war's turning point at Stalingrad to its conclusion in the streets of Berlin twenty-seven months later. Though containing a text written in Russian, one does not necessarily have to understand Russian to sense the message of the posters. These themes offer fascinating insight into the Soviet psyche.