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The Indignant Eye by Ralph E. Shilces. 439 pages. Beacon. $12.50. From Hieronymus Bosch to Picasso, the author explores the lives and times of famous artists and the hot issues that caused them to turn their hands to political cartoon, savage caricature and posterish polemic. Hundreds of black-and-white illustrations do justice to the likes of Jacques Callot, Lucas Cranach, George Cruikshank, Daumier, Courbet, Rouault, Käthe Kollwitz and George Grosz. Fascinating, especially for an age of rage, despair and pungent partisanship.
Kitsch: The World of Bad Taste by Gillo Dorfles. 313 pages. Universe. $10. A 16-inch-high statue of Jesus Christ with a clock in the belly is unquestionably kitsch—a German word meaning "rubbish." A six-inch plastic statue, of the same subject blessing an automobile dashboard is questionable kitsch, though the decision, like beauty, depends on the sophisticated eye of the beholder. Gillo Dorfles of the University of Milan has excavated the historical and contemporary worlds of religion, art, architecture, advertising and movies for kitsch artifacts.
Trafalgar by David Howarth. 254 pages. Atheneum. $8.95. What Howarth did last year for Waterloo he has now done for Britain's most famous and decisive sea battle. The achievement is not quite so notable; yet the book is a most clear and readable account of the engagement that cost Nelson's life and destroyed Napoleon's last hope of invading Britain.
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen by R. E. Raspe and others. Illustrated by Ronald Searle. 138 pages. Pantheon. $7.95. Baron Munchausen became prince of prevaricators in 1785 and has reigned ever since. In this latest edition, a cherry tree blossoms again between the antlers of a stag, etc. Ronald Searle competes well with such celebrated previous illustrators as Gustave Dore and Rowlandson.
The Connoisseur's Book of the Cigar by Zino Davidoff. 92 pages. McGraw-Hill. $5.95. What really troubles a woman about cigars is not their aroma but the look of contentment that drifts across a man's face when he lights one up. No meat loaf could ever do that, and she resents it. This informative breviary of cigarabilia—kinds, sizes, shapes, how to light up, etc.—by a Swiss cigar dealer is unlikely to lessen that resentment. Mainly for men with a sense of humidor.
The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics. Edited by Alan Aldridge. 156 pages. Delacorte. $5.95. A broad selection—from A Hard Day's Night to When I'm Sixty-Four—with illustrations as up to date as record jackets. This cleverly conceived and skillfully packaged songbook visually conveys the romance, toughness, mockery and tenderness of the Beatles' style.