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Donald Zec, Don’t
lose it again! The life and war-time cartoons
of Philip Zec, 2005
Philip Zec is now widely
regarded as the most important political cartoonist
of World War Two. From 1939 to 1945 he produced
1529 cartoons for the Daily Mirror which caught
brilliantly the defiance of the British people
at war. Some of his finest drawings are reproduced
in these pages. Two cartoons made history: the
first, the notorious ‘seaman on the raft’
cartoon was astonishingly misinterpreted in
Downing Street and led to a furious debate in
Parliament: the second, a moving evocation of
the folly of war gives the book its title and
marks the sixtieth anniversary of VE Day on
8th of May. Written by the cartoonist'ss brother
Donald, the award-wining journalist and author,
Don’t Lose It Again hallmarks a unique
talent which contributed significantly to the
British war effort. This book is probably the
most incisive biography of a political cartoonist
since Sir David Low’s own autobiography
49 years ago
Review by Dr Bex
Lewis (2005-6)
Philip Zec, designer of the
poster 'Women
of Britain, Come Into the Factories', did
not see himself as a propagandist, rather as
an observer, although he was happy for his work
to be used as propaganda. His brother Donald,
well known as a (film) journalist/ biographer,
writes this engaging text, not as a brother,
but as one who recognised the importance of
Zec's work.
The commissioning of the book
was triggered by Dr Tim Benson's (Political
Cartoon Society) purchase of Zec's iconic
cartoon, published in celebration of VE Day:
'Victory and Peace In Europe: Don't Lose it
Again'.
Despite the fact that Zec
destroyed most of his original images because
he didn't think they were good enough, the book
is well illustrated, largely in black and white.
The images, most from the Second World War (or
shortly before), are clearly contextualised.
Both the book and the images present the Second
World War through the eyes of gifted observers,
with Philip Zec clearly contributing to the
'mythical memory' of the Second World War through
powerful and memorable images.
An enjoyable, highly
illustrated read - the book follows Zec's beginnings
on the edges of Bloomsbury, his training at
St Martin's College of Art, his move into advertising
illustration, and his friendships with Strube,
Low and the columnist Cassandra on the Daily
Mirror. As a socialist and a Jew, Zec had strong
political and social awareness - he was drawn
into political cartooning as it was evident
the country was on the brink of war (he could
not stay on the sidelines drawing goods for
sale). Soon after the war commenced, Zec produced
the first of a series of cartoons for the Daily
Mirror, poking fun at the Dictators (putting
himself on Hitler's blacklist). Zec was not
a 'funny' cartoonist, producing strong messages,
unafraid to shock, although he found the realities
of the German concentration camps too shocking
to convert into cartoons. Zec was loved by 'the
boys' in the Armed Forces, and raised controversy
with Churchill (see pp.74-81). Post-war, he
threw his support behind the Labour Party, continuing
his work as a political cartoonist until his
death in 1983.
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