A fascinating history of power in a nutshell – or rather, in a whole bag of nutshells of different colours and contents.
From the belief in the divine origin of rulers in ancient Egypt, via the development of democracy in ancient Greece, to the formidable family ruling the Inca Empire, the liberum veto principle that paralysed the exercising of power in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, racial segregation in South Africa, and contemporary varieties of democracy. From gigantic territories under the leadership of an individual (the British Empire under Queen Victoria and the Soviet Union under Stalin) to the tiny kingdom of Bhutan, where the happiness level of inhabitants is measured regularly. Joanna Czaplewska’s black-and-white drawings are the result of a combination of realism and satire, often flirting with images known from art history, thus delivering knowledge and entertainment in equal proportions. And for those who like to attend to the details in illustrations, every story about human power also features dogs – and sometimes other animals too.
Anita Wincencjusz-Patyna, translated by Kate Webster
