David Levinthal Boeken

A collection of soft-focus color photographs of toys staged to re-enact the Holocaust.

Produced during the final phase of the Vietnam War, Hitler Moves East: A Graphic Chronicle, 1941–43 was first released in 1977, presenting a powerful restaging of events from World War II that remains just as poignant today. Having sold out all but 800 copies, this piece of historical mock-documentary is now available from powerHouse Books. To a child with toy soldiers and a few tanks, the imagination creates the reality of war. In the hands of two graphic innovators, David Levinthal and Garry Trudeau, the elements of childhood are transfigured into astonishing and sometimes horrifying images. Combining selected archival materials with their own meticulously constructed miniature settings, the authors have provided a haunting recreation of World War II’s most dramatic campaign—the German invasion of the Soviet Union. What emerges from their story is a special sort of truth born of contrast; a visual history told in terms of uncommon contradictions. Traveling precariously between imagination and reality, Levinthal and Trudeau have produced a work which is at once a sublime graphic manifesto and a powerful documentary of men at war.

Break-in at the Three Bears family home? It could only be one dame. Wicked witch gone missing from her candied cottage? Hansel and Gretel claim it was self-defense. Did Humpty Dumpty really just fall off that wall, or was he pushed? Here are five fairy-tale stories with a twist, all told from the point of view of a streetwise police officer called Binky, who just happens to be a toad in a suit and a fedora. When Snow White doesn't make it to the beauty pageant, Officer Binky is the first to find the apple core lying by her bed. When an awful giant mysteriously crashes to the ground, upsetting the whole town, Binky discovers exactly who is responsible. Author David Levinthal and illustrator John Nickle retell these classic stories in the style of a 1940s noir detective novel--for kids!

Through striking photographs, David Levinthal explores the Vietnam War using unique dioramas and toy figures. This publication delves into the war's visual lexicon, reflecting on its impact on American pop culture and Levinthal's personal memories. It draws connections to films like Platoon and Full Metal Jacket, while recontextualizing his earlier series, Hitler Moves East. Accompanied by essays from notable figures like Bernard-Henri Lévy, Walter Kirn, and Lisa Hostetler, the work serves as a visual examination of a conflict that reshaped American perceptions.