Thomas Nast - by Fiona Deans Halloran (Paperback)

About the Book

Thomas Nast: The Father of Modern Political Cartoons

Book Synopsis

Thomas Nast (1840-1902), the founding father of American political cartooning, is perhaps best known for his cartoons portraying political parties as the Democratic donkey and the Republican elephant. Nast's legacy also includes a trove of other political cartoons, his successful attack on the machine politics of Tammany Hall in 1871, and his wildly popular illustrations of Santa Claus for Harper's Weekly magazine. Throughout his career, his drawings provided a pointed critique that forced readers to confront the contradictions around them.

In this thoroughgoing and lively biography, Fiona Deans Halloran focuses not just on Nast's political cartoons for Harper's but also on his place within the complexities of Gilded Age politics and highlights the many contradictions in his own life: he was an immigrant who attacked immigrant communities, a supporter of civil rights who portrayed black men as foolish children in need of guidance, and an enemy of corruption and hypocrisy who idolized Ulysses S. Grant. He was a man with powerful friends, including Mark Twain, and powerful enemies, including William M. "Boss" Tweed. Halloran interprets Nast's work, explores his motivations and ideals, and illuminates Nast's lasting legacy on American political culture.

Review Quotes

A bright book.--Michael Kammen, Los Angeles Review of Books

A rich portrait of the multifaceted artist, social crusader, political commentator, and devoted father and husband.--Publishers Weekly

An intriguing and rich portrait.--Journal of American History

Extremely effective in illuminating Nast as an artist and an individual. . . . Will inform as well as amuse.--Galveston Daily News

Halloran has produced a biography exploring Nast's drawings in the context of his life as an artist whose drawings had a strong Republican slant. She shows convincingly how Nast expressed his identity both in his sentimental home scenes and his cutting political satires.--H-SHGAPE

One of the great pleasures of Halloran's biography is watching Nast go from being a mere artist to a political-cartooning superstar.--Bookforum

Recommended. With reservations. Graduate students, researchers, professionals.--Choice

The most exhaustive and well-researched look at Nast to date.--Salt Lake Tribune

This detailed biography will appeal to historians of the Gilded Age and to scholars interested in the development of the political cartoon. . . . The book is beautifully illustrated with Nast's work.--Library Journal