The Illustrated War News
*see also a link with full pages on The Battle of Verdun
In contrast to most of the other warring countries, British publishers created a large number of new specialized newsmagazines that dealt specifically with war news. In other countries, existing publications shifted to extensive coverage of the conflict but generally continued under their old pre-war names and appearance.
One of many new British magazines was called 'the Illustrated War News'. As the title hints, this magazine was mainly intended for the publiction of war illustrations : quality photographs and drawings. There was a small amount of text in the form of captions along with a modest length article. But unlike many other British illustrative publications, 'the Illustrated War News' was aimed at the more prosperous middle classes. The printing was of fine quality, generally being done in various sepia tones and even in color from time to time, the lay-outs were meticulously symetrical in the best tradition of the times and the choice of illustrative material was impressive and wide-ranging. Much German material was used (without paying any royalties or copyright fees one suspects) and the magazine was also relatively free of the more sensational and exaggerated form of war propaganda that often appeared in British working-class periodicals.
We show here a random selection of covers from the early days of the war in 1914 and 1915.
*see also a link with full pages on The Battle of Verdun / the Siege of Antwerp