ART OF WAR; PAINTING IT OUT OF THE PICTURE Geoff Butler 1990. 104pp, paper, $35.00, ISBN 0-9694447-0-2 Available from Geoff Butler, P.O. Box 20, Granville Ferry, N.S. BOS 1KO Grades 7 and up/Ages 12 and up Reviewed by J.E. Simpson. Volume 19 Number 2 1991 March This is a moving, disturbing, memo­rable book. It is quite unlike anything ever published in Canada in recent memory. The force of its satirical passion is at times overwhelming. Although Geoff Butler, artist, author and publisher, considers himself (with some justification) in the tradition of Goya, the smouldering, apocalyptic glow that suffuses most of the seventy-five colour illustrations in Art of War bears a startling resemblance to works by Bosch, Patinir and other medieval Flemish moralists. And the parallel goes beyond colour; like the Flemings, Butler presents his savage irony in the guise of banal, even domestic circum­stances. Which depiction, of course, deepens the bite of the irony. War is not exotic, nor are its supporters. Its influence is pervasive. The text which accompanies the paintings and drawings is at times awkward, with more straining after word play than this reader can accept with comfort, but there is no denying the cumulative effect of its sincerity. Art of War is impressive; it is impor­tant. It deserves the widest possible audience. J.E. Simpson, Edmonton Public Schools, Edmonton, Alta.