Adolf Hitler: My Part In His Downfall by English funnyman Spike Milligan (1971) is the best damn little WWII memoir I’ve ever read. Read the first paragraph for yourself:
I’m not quite sure why, but I received the book as a present in the mail from a convict at one of the United State’s more pleasant maximum security prisons. This is what was stamped on the back of the first envelope:
The note inside simply said, “I thought you’d like this.” It wasn’t signed, just a number. Could the inmate have been a Print reader? Or maybe a former editor? It is still a mystery. But I have gotten a lot of enjoyment from the master of the Goon Squad in the “most irreverent, hilarious book” that the Sunday Express ever reviewed.
And since I’m recommending old books, the Albers-esque cover for Lewis Mumford’s Art and Technics (1952) is among the brightest of read art, symbols, handicraft and machine, tools and objects, and form and function. I think I’ll read it and my notes in it all over again.
The February 2015 issue of Print—Type Today—is out now.In this issue, Print tackles one of its readers’ most passionate topics: Typography. We take a deep dive into how type has evolved—where it has been in the past, major industry milestones and so on—and analyze current trends to decode where it’s going tomorrow. Print also looks at new artists who are taking it there by naming 9 Type Designers to Watch in 2015. Get a copy today.
