Penny War Weekly
a British Working Class Magazine
see also full page scans from 'the Penny War Weekly' on the Siege of Antwerp
'The Penny War Weekly', as the name so clearly evokes, was a cheaply priced British magazine featuring war news. A new title especially created to cater to the great demand for news about the great conflict of nations, it was as most other publications of its kind and price range, profusely illustrated with both photographs and illustrations. Rich in patriotic sentiments and fervor, this was not a magazine that was read to gather hard facts. It was rather yet another morale raising, patriotically inspired publication that always managed to look on the sunny side of things, from a British perspective of course.
Like it's companion competition publications, 'Newnes Illustrated', 'the War Budget' and 'the War Illustrated', 'the Penny War Weekly' egularly featured numerous hand-drawn illustrations of the more improbable kind, either extolling British or Allied feats-of-arms in theatrically posed scenes of comic-bookish fantasy or else depicting the enemy engaged in horrid and gashtly atrocities commited against civilians and helpless women and children. While many of these illustrations were based on true occurances, others were not and it is difficult to judge their veracity based on artistic merits alone.
Aside from a wealth of illustrative material, the magazine also featured regular articles on the course of the war, faits-divers from the front-lines, histores of the war for both children and grown-ups (though both versions were equally slanted and biased), photos of decorated soldiers, volunteers and other odds and bits.
