The review presents a detailed analysis of the monograph by O.V. and S.A. Kochukov, «“An Artist on the Battlefield”: Reportage Graphics of the Russian-Turkish War of 1877–1878». The reviewed work is considered in the context of the development of visual history, a new interdisciplinary field in the humanities that is gradually overcoming the traditional orientation of historians solely toward textual sources. The review examines the content of the illustrated monograph, which represents the first attempt to study the events of the Russian–Turkish War of 1877–1878 through visual magazine chronicles – engravings published in the Russian and foreign illustrated press. The significance of the monograph is assessed from the perspective of current trends and genres in modern historical scholarship. The publication of journalistic reportage graphics of the Russian-Turkish War, combined with a historical and cultural analysis of their content, has allowed the authors of the reviewed work to identify the role of the media and representatives of the creative intelligentsia in representing key events in Russia’s nineteenthcentury military history. The author of the review emphasizes the innovative nature of the monograph, which is the first generalizing study devoted to journalistic reportage graphics as a visual narrative of the Russian-Turkish War. It is noted that the publication introduces into scholarly circulation an extensive corpus of 475 engravings from the Russian and foreign press, which in itself constitutes a significant contribution to the source base. The monograph by O.V. and S.A. Kochukov analyzes these graphics as a key tool in shaping the concept of the “liberation war” in Russian public opinion and culture. The study reveals the motives of correspondent artists (civic duty, aesthetic search, ethnographic interest) and their role as “soldiers of the information war”. At the same time, as the reviewer notes, the authors apply the methods of historical imagology, comparing visual images created by Russian and foreign artists. The monograph pays special attention to the work of key figures in journalistic reportage graphics, such as N. N. Karazin, whose oeuvre represents a synthesis of visual and verbal texts. The authors also emphasize the role of illustrated magazines (Niva, World Illustration) as the main Russian media outlets for the visual representation of the war. In conclusion, the monograph by O.V. and S.A. Kochukov is regarded as an important step in the development of visual history and will be of interest both to specialists and to a wider audience interested in the military history, culture, and art of Russia.
Russian-Turkish war; reportage graphics; artist-correspondents; visual chronicle; engravings.