Comics and graphic novels have long been a part of the American media landscape. In this book display, readers can learn about the history and cultural role of comics in the United States, and also explore the Vere Harmsworth Library’s collection of graphic history books, which use a comic book format to present historical narratives in an engaging, dynamic way.
The graphic history books on display include:
- Freedom was in sight! : a graphic history of Reconstruction in the Washington, D.C., region
- Monumental : Oscar Dunn and his radical fight in Reconstruction Louisiana
- March : the complete trilogy in one volume
- Run home if you don’t want to be killed : the Detroit uprising of 1943
- Black coal and red bandanas
- Doom towns : the people and landscapes of atomic testing : a graphic history
- The first black Marines : an oral history, a graphic history
- A people’s history of American empire : a graphic adaptation
The books about the history of comics include:
- The content of our caricature : African American comic art and political belonging
- The Brooklyn thrill-kill gang and the great comic book scare of the 1950s
- Comic books and American cultural history : an anthology
- Secret identity crisis : comic books and the unmasking of Cold War America
- Drawing the past : comics and the historical imagination in the United States
- Comic strips and consumer culture, 1890-1945
- The ten-cent plague : the great comic-book scare and how it changed America
- Comic book nation : the transformation of youth culture in America
Readers interested in the study of comic books may also wish to explore the digital resources collected in the Library of Congress’ research guide on comics and comic books.
The display can be found on the ground floor of the library, near the staircase. Many of the books on display are loanable, and some are available as ebooks.
If you have any questions about using the Vere Harmsworth Library, please email vhl@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.