The Art of Controversy: Political Cartoons and Their Enduring Power Hardcover - 2013

Media reviews

“Thoughtful and deftly illustrated…an engaging meditation on cartoon history.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“The visuals in The Art of Controversy: Political Cartoons and their Enduring Power are irresistible and the passionate Victor S. Navasky is a wonderful storyteller.”
—The Boston Globe

“[Mr. Navasky] is agreeable company…a man who knew many of the great cartoonists of the 20th century and has stories to tell.”
—Dwight Garner, The New York Times

“Accessible, yet acutely academic…With The Art of Controversy, Navasky has made a substantial effort to bring understanding to the power of caricature.”
—The New York Daily News

“Mr. Navasky’s wonderful book is a spirited homage to the art and craft of political caricature.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“This heavily illustrated, entertainingly written look at political cartoons is both personal—Navasky’s experience with controversial drawing as well as writing is considerable—and thoroughly researched. It is also deeply insightful.”
—Booklist

“A lavishly illustrated, witty, and learned look at the power of the political cartoon throughout history.”
—Publisher’s Weekly

“Engaging and often illuminating.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Navasky argues eloquently and convincingly [that] censorship of caricature artists amounts to an assault on individual free speech. The Art of Controversy is an amazing historical document from a political journalist all too familiar with caricature’s intuitive and divisive power.”
—Shelf Awareness

"A novel approach to the history of political cartoons. From Picasso, Grosz, and Daumier through Herblock and Ralph Steadman, Navasky illuminates an underappreciated art form."
-Oliver Stone

"As Victor Navasky, a word man, investigates  the wordless art of the political cartoon -- what, he asks, accounts for its implosive power? -- we find ourselves in the hands of a writer of  indefatigable  curiosity  and are caught up in the tempestuous history of newsprint art. An expansive, illuminating work. I know of nothing comparable."
-E.L. Doctorow

"Victor Navasky's The Art of Controversy is an entertaining and instructive reminder of the important place of political cartoons in exposing lies, hypocrisies, stupidity, and corruption in the public arena. Be prepared to laugh and get angry all at once."
-Tom Brokaw

"Victor Navasky pulls it off - he showcases the significance and power of political cartoons without taking the 'funny' out of them or cloistering the amazing rage they evoke that is far beyond the power of mere words to explain."
-Ralph Nader

“For the political junkie, journalist, artist, cartoonist or student, The Art of Controversy is a wonder story of an amazing art form.”
-New York Journal of Books

“An invaluable account of two centuries of comic art, with a galvanizing emphasis on the specific conditions of its creation.”
—Barnes & Noble

“Thought-provoking…a compelling meander through the complex world of satirical cartooning.”
—Ashbury Park Press

“An entertaining tour through a wonderfully affecting mode of illustration.”
—Drawing Magazine