European crises, rising debts, unprecedented unemployment, economic depression – all this sounds rather familiar. Helmut Schmidt in cartoons, however, does not deal with the ongoing debt crisis of today but with the turbulent 1970s and early 1980s. Seen from a German as well as European perspective, the book covers the dramatic history of the decade by using some 80 cartoons by Fritz Behrendt – probably the European cartoonist of the second half of the 20th century. Originally published in the leading newspapers of the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, Switzlerand and many other countries, the cartoons illustrate and comment on international events such as the oil crises of 1973 and 1979, the ensuing worldwide economic recession, the state of the European Community, the end of the Vietnam war, the ascent of China, the G7 summits, overpopulation, left-wing terrorism, right-wing dictatorships, the Iranian revolution and the beginning of the second cold war after the Russian invasion of Afghanistan.

The book, published in German, is written by Dr. Ulrich Schnakenberg (Editor) and Fritz Behrendt (cartoonist), and introduced by Prof. Manfred Görtemaker. More information about the publication is available at the publisher, Wochenschau-Verlag.