Title Highlight: Encyclopedia of Propaganda

Encyclopedia of Propaganda

3 volumes: Photos, tables
Filmography (v. 3)
Category List (v. 3)

This encyclopedia looks at many subjects including people, places, events, arts, government, health issues, the media and other topics to demonstrate how each was shaped by or used propaganda to further a political or social agenda. For instance the first article in the work, abortion, looks at how people on both sides of the issue in the United States have used different ways to present their point of view to an audience. The great Twentieth Century masters of the use of propaganda, Germany’s Nazis get many entries but so do filmmakers, musicians and artists including Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang and Pete Seeger. Not all of the articles have suggestions for further reading, but many do.

Of particular interest is the filmography which arranges film into categories based on the type of issue and point of view they sought to further. The list includes such works as Reefer Madness (anti-marijuana film from the 1930’s), Triumph of the Will (the great classic work extolling the virtues of Nazi Germany), and Apocalypse Now (anti-Vietnam war) The book also describes different techniques used by different groups to further their agenda and includes a section on how advertisers use these techniques to sell products, a type of activity not often seen as propaganda.