Iron Fists

Steven Heller is a Senior Art Director at the New York Times and co-chair of the MFA/Design Program at the School of Visual Arts in New York. A respected authority in the design world, he has written and coauthored numerous publications, include Merz to Emigré and Beyond, also published by Phaidon.

• IntroductionDesign as an Instrument of PowerThe NazisOne Fuhrer All the TimeBirth of a SymbolPropagating the BrandPromoting the Third ReichThe Italian FascistsDuce Duce DuceThe March from Ancient RomeFascist StylePromoting EmpireThe Soviet CommunistsLenin and the Blanding of RevolutionSeeing RedThe Soviet Avant-gardeStalin Comes of AgeThe Communist ChineseThe Cult of MaoSoviet Red ReduxThe Cultural RevolutionBibliographyIndex

"A fascinating study of the power inherent in symbols and visual branding."—Creative Review"Heller’s text throughout is splendid, neither assuming any prior knowledge of the history of these regimes nor pitching so low that it will bore the more informed reader... [Iron Fists] is a powerful achievement, one that fascinates, and leaves the reader sickened and unnerved by the fascination."—Icon"Sophisticated and visually arresting... Heller, by means of unsettling images and shrewd analysis, amply restores the vileness of branding... Heller’s prose is as clear and uncluttered as the graphic design he admires."—International Herald Tribune"The book looks amazing... One opens the book with a genuine sense of seduced trepidation... The great strength of this book lies in its coherence as an image essay, and you’d be hard-pushed to find such a comprehensive, considered display of documents that have shaped the modern political and cultural landscape... Heller deserves considerable credit for this."—ArtReview