With Heath Robinson’s Second World War, Britain’s “Gadget King” uses his characteristic madcap contraptions to poke good-natured fun at the war. From a series of cork bath mats strung together to enable soldiers to cross a treacherous stream to a tank complete with piano attachment for campsite concertos, the cartoons found here are uproariously funny while also forming a cheerful critique of some of the absurdities of war.

Heath Robinson was a household name in Britain, and millions of readers around the world continue to thoroughly enjoy his cartoons today. This classic military-themed compendium will be a favorite with fans of the cartoonist’s complicated, fanciful contraptions.

W. Heath Robinson (1872–1944) was a British cartoonist. Trained in painting at the Royal Academy of Arts, he eventually became so well-known for the madcap contraptions that were the subject of cartoons in popular weeklies that a codebreaking device was named after him during WWII. Cecil Hunt (1902–1954) was a writer and editor of more than sixty books. He was most famous for his books of “howlers,” which collected errors made by British schoolchildren in their written work.