THE RED ARMY AND NAVY - 1939 USSR Photo Book w/200 pics - Rodchenko

Rare monumental work of propaganda propagating the USSR as a military superpower.

This is one of a number of photo-books Alexander Rodchenko produced with his wife Varvara Stepanova, for the soviet pavilion of the 1939 New York World's Fair.

    Profusely illustrated throughout with about 200 of stunning full and half-page b/w photogravures of military forces, vehicles, and Soviet youth trained for any possible alert.

Relevance is raised by a picture devoted to the Lake Khasan incident as a Japanese attempt to encroach on Soviet territory in 1938. Photographer Viktor Temin photographed a Red Army man lifting a bullet-riddled Red banner in the Far East.

The front endpaper features a tank view, and the back endpaper shows Georgy Petrusov's photo "Ship's Guns." The gatefold pages show Dmitry Debabov's picture of endless ranks of soldiers standing on the Red Square. After large-scale purges of commanding officers, the entire Red Army and Navy personnel swore a new oath of allegiance to Stalin and Voroshilov on February 23, 1939.

Hardcover, lettered in red and cream with large stamped red star in cover. 

• 104 pages
• ~200 b/w photo reproductions in gravure
• two central gatefold pages
• some color illustrations, some gilded text
• 3 tipped-in photographic portraits of Lenin, Stalin and Voroshilov with facsimile signatures 

In good exterior and very good interior condition
Boards slightly soiled, tips of spine damaged (frayed), book blook slightly crushed at lower left hand corner, otherwise ok with minor traces of use and age. Photo pages are clean.

All pages are complete and tight in the binding.

Approx/Measurements: 15-3/4" x 10-1/4"  ~3.4 lbs.