When the anticipated air raids never happened, the posters were taken to the various dumps across Britain. What I found most revealing in this short book was that these posters were never officially used. immediately following a severe air-raid". "Keep Calm and Carry On" was a slogan chosen because it conveyed "a determination not to give in, it created a sense of resilience and resistance, to continue as normal, whatever happens." The posters were "held in reserve for immediate posting should the necessity arrive, e.g. Lewis traced the origin of the modern "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster meme, where variations and parodies of its simple slogan pop up everywhere. I realize that she needed to establish a background for the WWII title subject but I didn't find it all too interesting. Lewis spent the first half of the book looking at British poster history, focussing at first on the Great War and the role of propaganda in making posters effective. Keep Calm had endnotes yet the superscript digits were so small I wasn't aware that they were even there. I wonder if the entire population of the British Isles either has eagle-eye vision or is otherwise now blind. This microbiography was also fittingly printed in microscopic print this is so typical of British books. Keep Calm and Carry On: The Truth Behind the Poster by Bex Lewis is a small book of eighty pages, chosen because I was interested in the subject matter of course but also because I wanted to make sure I finished reading and reviewing my books before Mark and I go on holiday next week. This book tells the story of this incredible phenomenon and is richly illustrated throughout with posters and archival photographs. Since then, “Keep Calm” has traveled across the Atlantic and inspired countless variations, becoming arguably the most successful meme in history. But, this feared invasion never happened, and so the poster would have continued to reside on the dusty shelves of history were it not for a chance discovery of one of the originals by the owners of Barter Books in 2001 who put it on display in their shop in Northumberland. Tracing its origins to World War II, Bex Lewis explains how the poster was created to allay public panic in the event of a German invasion. Yet, how many people who have embraced its pithy sentiment of resilience actually know where it comes from? Here with the answer, this book reveals the truth behind the now famous poster and saying. Found on everything these days from tote bags to coffee mugs to t-shirts, “Keep Calm and Carry On” has become one of the most recognizable slogans of the twenty-first century.
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