Book Description
The appearance, more than sixty years after the Spanish Civil War ended, of mass graves containing victims of Francisco Franco’s death squads finally broke what Spaniards call “the pact of forgetting”—the unwritten understanding that their recent, painful past was best left unexplored. At this charged moment, Giles Tremlett embarked on a journey around the country and through its history to discover why some of Europe’s most voluble people have kept silent so long.
Ghosts of Spain is the fascinating result of that journey. In elegant and passionate prose, Tremlett unveils the tinderbox of disagreements that mark the country today. Delving into such emotional questions as who caused the Civil War, why Basque terrorists kill, why Catalans hate Madrid, and whether the Islamist bombers who killed 190 people in 2004 dreamed of a return to Spain’s Moorish past, Tremlett finds the ghosts of the past everywhere. At the same time, he offers trenchant observations on more quotidian aspects of Spanish life today: the reasons, for example, Spaniards dislike authority figures, but are cowed by a doctor’s white coat, and how women have embraced feminism without men noticing.
Drawing on the author’s twenty years of experience living in Spain, Ghosts of Spain is a revelatory book about one of Europe’s most exciting countries.
Customer Reviews:
An outsider's insight.......2007-05-28
A British journalist who has lived 20 years in Spain, married and raising his 2 children in Madrid, the author investigates, reveals and muses upon Spanish culture, history and the forces of the "two Spains" as they come together, or rub against each other, in forming the modern Spanish world. A fascinating look at Spain, its subcultures from the Basques to the Catalans to flamenco to the Galicians, to drug culture to tourism and the very difficult and delicate process of choosing to forget the differences of the Spanish Civil War and Franco's regime in order to move forward in a country that was once the most powerful on earth.
I like Spain and its history. This is one of the very best insights into modern Spain. Highly recommended.
A Pale Secret.......2007-05-22
A liberal British newspaper reporter's hit and miss attempt at a book explaining Spain (his nearly adopted country) to us outsiders. Some hits (like how modern Spain handles the dark legacy of Franco) are offset by a number of misses.
Historical facts, or guesses as to historical facts, get thrown in as space fillers; events that catch Mr. Tremlett's fancy are highlighted, whether reflective of the whole Spanish society or not; the level of writing is often barely above that of a talented reporter on deadline. The final meandering chapter entitled "Moderns and Ruins", especially, cries out for editing.
Great book about a fascinating country.......2007-05-19
This is a great journalistic account of the social and political changes that have transformed Spain up to the present day. Tremlett discusses the country's past and present in fairly equal measure. He begins by looking at the legacies of the Spanish Civil War, discussing how only in the past decade has the full scale of the atrocities that took place come to light. He discusses how Spaniards whose relatives were killed by the Francoists have pushed in recent years for their relatives to be given decent burials. He also writes an interesting chapter on Franco's overall legacy, arguing that after his death and the country's transition to democracy he has been largely purged from public discourse. Despite this collective amnesia that he identifies, Tremlett points out that the same left-right cleavage that drove the war still lurks below the surface of Spanish society. The book also contains chapters on the Basque, Catalan, and Galician regions. Tremlett provides very insightful analysis of the origins of and main forces behind Basque and Catalan nationalism, while his chapter on Galicia details that region's emergence as a conduit for Columbian cocaine. One of my favorite chapters looked at gender relations in Spain, in which Tremlett provides some very amusing anecdotes that reveal contrasts between Spain and his native Britain. This chapter also discusses Tremlett's quest to understand the paradox of how a country can be so awash in brothels (which, he reports, 1/4 of Spanish men visited) yet relatively conservative in terms of the sexual mores of its people.
Other subjects covered here include Spain's emergence as a global tourism magnet (and the corruption that has often emerged alongside it) and the 2004 Madrid train bombing, which indirectly led to the defeat of the ruling party in the elections several days later. This was an interesting chapter, in which Tramlett looked at the ways in which the main parties tried to capitalize on this tragedy for political gain. Overall, I found Tremlett to be a very keen analyst of social and political relations, and there weren't really any weak chapters. For instance, I considered skipping a chapter on flamenco music, not being particularly interested in the musical form itself, but the chapter ended up including a fascinating discussion of the social history of Spain's gypsies.
Overall, I would heartily recommend this book to anybody interested in Spanish history, culture, and/or politics. I would NOT recommend it to those expecting more of a travel guide type of book; although Tremlett does visit and write evocatively about numerous regions, such descriptions are not the main substance of this book. If I had to make one minor criticism, it is that the chapters themselves were often not tightly organized. For example, the chapter on the Basques jumps from past to present and does not really follow any sort of structure. This wasn't really a problem for me, because Tremlett writes well and never bored me, but it might be a problem to some. Another minor complaint is that the book doesn't include a map, which might have been useful for readers like me who aren't intimately familiar with Spain's geography. Overall, though, I think that this is social and political journalism at its finest, and anybody wishing to learn more about this fascinating country could do worse than to start here!
Spain's a Fun Country to Visit.......2007-04-29
The first time tht I went to Spain the country was still under Franco. When getting off the plane, every arriving passenger was photographed. This set a tone that made you never forget where you were. Now going to Spain is like going to any other country. There is no problem going from one city to another. The people are friendly to Americans. The food, trains, hotels, highways are all good.
This book looks underneath these obvious outward trappings to the held over anguish from the Franco time. He also looks further backwards to the regional conflicts with Basque seperatists, and more recently to the Islamist bombers who killed 190 people using bomb attacks in 2004.
Spain remains a little bit different than the rest of Western Europe. Mr. Tremlett has lived in Spain for twenty years and has done an excellent job of bringing together the history and the current situation to explain the current country that is Spain.
The Real Spain.......2007-04-15
Giles Tremlett has written a highly readable, incisive portrait of Spain today--its problems and its pleasures. His presentation of the manner in which Spain has chosen to deal with the aftermath of Francisco Franco's death is particularly well written and revealing. He examines how the decades of dictatorship and brutal repression have been swept under the rug of collective consciousness by Spaniards choosing not to confront it or attempt to reconcile themselves with this difficult episode in their nation's history. The author's years of closely observing Spain, and reporting on its politics and culture for Britain's most respected newspaper, The Guardian, have given him a wonderful sense of both the large picture and the quotidian details, which do so much to bring this book to life.
Anyone wanting a sense of what today's Spain is all about will find it in these pages.
Book Description
A fresh and acclaimed account of the Spanish Civil War by the bestselling author of Stalingrad and The Fall Of Berlin 1945
To mark the 70th anniversary of the Spanish Civil War's outbreak, Antony Beevor has written a completely updated and revised account of one of the most bitter and hard-fought wars of the twentieth century. With new material gleaned from the Russian archives and numerous other sources, this brisk and accessible book (Spain's #1 bestseller for twelve weeks), provides a balanced and penetrating perspective, explaining the tensions that led to this terrible overture to World War II and affording new insights into the war—its causes, course, and consequences.
Customer Reviews:
España: An economic miracle in today's Europe!.......2007-10-01
Interested in understanding today's western world? this might be the book to start the quest... A miracle in Europe, no doubt, España didn't turn around its economy by just watching, but by huge ammounts of work and sacrifice. El Generalisimo Francisco Franco might have been the smartest leader in those days in Europe... perhaps he knew how to wait...
Just the Facts.......2007-09-13
I bought this book because I felt the need to learn something about the background to Rebecca Pawel's novels. Now I understand something of the genesis of brutal hatred between the two halves of the Spanish population of 1940. Truly in this war everyone's ideals were betrayed.
One complaint. A map of the historic regions of Spain would have made sense of the constant references to Aragon, Estremadura, etc.
Detailed examination of the Spanish Civil War.......2007-07-08
Antony Beevor again undertakes a highly researched, detailed and thorough examination of the highly complex Spanish Civil War. Worth buying for anyone with an interest or for those students of history.
Dress Rehearsal.......2007-06-04
This is a fine, well-balanced study of the Spanish Civil War; its origins, the military course of the conflict, the developments on both the Nationalist and Republican sides, and the War's immediate aftermath.
Whatever the outcome of the War might have been, it would have been (and was) a disaster for the country, and it is fundamental to an understanding of Spain's place in modern Europe.
I do not think that the author takes side or neglects either: he is critical of both, adopting a realist approach about the character of Republican Spain rather than a romantic one. This book contains no rose-tinted view of the type of Spain that might have emerged in the event of a Republican victory.
The Spanish Civil War was important as it cast a reflection on wider European politics of the time: the rise of fascist power, the caution and fear of the USSR, and the cynicism of the British. No country shines brightly in this. Indeed, one can understand Churchill's concerns about how readily the British ruling classes might have cooperated with German invaders after studying their reactions to events in Spain.
The most famous work on the Spanish Civil War is perhaps Hugh Thomas's huge tome. Beevor's book is about half as long and has been updated recently. So, although Thomas's work is still well worth a read, Beevor's book might be more manageable.
G Rodgers
Good-but the Bias shows through.......2007-05-22
While this is a generally commendable book, and pulls a great amount of information from 1st hand accounts, scrutinized histories, and analysis of new archival information, Beevor lets slip an occasional anti-Traditionalist bias. He seems to accept that digging up corpses and desecrating graves was an acceptable practice, and that much of what the left did was necessary to "modernize" devotional Catholics.
I am not convinced that devotional religious people are backwards, nor do they need modernizing. Much of the Carlist response to the blasphemies of the left, and eventually Franco's taking up traditional Catholicism seems to be a logical and justified response to a violent assault on religion.
Still the book is very good, needs another edit if it goes into another publication, and could use better maps. Completely useful, if one takes note of the slight bias of the author.
Book Description
In the summer of 1936, Generalissimo Francisco Franco led a group of right-wing nationalists in a military attack on the Republican government of Spain--the start of what would become the Spanish Civil War. Despite U.S. laws banning participation in foreign conflicts, American volunteers began pouring into Barcelona in January 1937. The most famous of these anti-Franco groups was the band of 2,800 American fighters who called themselves the Abraham Lincoln Battalion. In Comrades and Commissars, Cecil D. Eby pushes beyond the bias that has dominated study of the Lincoln Battalion and gets to the very heart of the American experience in Spain.
Controversy has plagued the Lincoln Battalion from the very start. Were these men selfless defenders of liberty or un-American Communists? Eby has long been regarded as one of the few balanced interpreters of their history. His 1969 book, Between the Bullet and the Lie, won accolades for its rigorous and fair treatment of the Battalion. Comrades and Commissars builds upon that earlier study, incorporating a wealth of information collected over intervening decades. New oral histories, previously untranslated memoirs, and newly declassified official documents all lend even greater authority and perspective to Eby's account. Most significant is Eby's use of Lincoln Battalion archives sequestered in a Moscow storeroom for sixty years. These papers draw renewed focus on some of the most provocative questions surrounding the Battalion, including the extent to which Americans were persecuted--and even executed--by the brigade commissariat.
The Americans who served in the Lincoln Battalion were neither mythic figures nor political abstractions. Poorly trained and equipped, they committed themselves to backto- the-wall defense of the doomed Spanish Republic. In Comrades and Commissars, we at last have the authoritative account of their experiences.
Customer Reviews:
An in-depth reference, composed by an author with a solid reputation for expertise, balance, and objectivity on the topic.......2007-06-09
Written by retired Professor of English Cecil D. Eby, Comrades and Commissars: The Lincoln Battalion in the Spanish Civil War is a fascinating history of 2,800 American fighters who formed a Battalion to fight against Generalissimo Francisco Franco and his right-wing nationalists against the Republican government of Spain during the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930's. Building upon Eby's previous study published in 1969, "Between the Bullet and the Lie", Comrades and Commissars draws from additional data that Eby gathered in recent decades, including the Lincoln Battalion archives that have been hidden in a Moscow storeroom for sixty years. These papers shed light on some of the most provocative questions concerning the Battalion, including which Americans were persecuted or even executed by the brigade commissariat. An in-depth reference, composed by an author with a solid reputation for expertise, balance, and objectivity on the topic, Comrades and Commissars is a welcome addition to world and military history reference shelves.
Book Description
View the
Table of Contents. Read the
Foreword by E.L. Doctorow.
When the Spanish Civil War began in 1936, loosely affiliated groups of writers, artists, and other politically aware individuals emerged in New York City to give voice to anti-fascist sentiment by supporting the Spanish Republic.
Facing Fascism: New York and the Spanish Civil War examines the participation of New Yorkers in the political struggles and armed conflict that many historians consider a critical precursor to World War II. Nearly half of the 2,800 Americans who volunteered to fight in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade against Generalissimo Francisco Franco came from the New York area. Fundraising, propaganda, and deployment for anti-fascists everywhere in America were orchestrated through New York City. At the same time, powerful voices in New York expressed sympathy for the pro-fascist side.
The fighting in Spain brought to the surface the complex ideological and ethnic identities always present in New York politics.
Facing Fascism examines the full range of this experience, including that of the New Yorkers who supported Franco. It addresses the role of doctors, nurses, and social workers who left New York hospitals to provide assistance to the defenders of the Spanish Republic, as well as those who remained active on the home front. The book also describes the involvement of students in the war, the key role of writers and the media, and the contributions made by members of New York's art and theater communities.
Facing Fascism also serves as the catalog to an exhibition of the same name appearing at the Museum of the City of New York in the spring of 2007. The book and exhibition both make use of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives' extensive holdings, which range from historical documents to video recordings of oral histories. Numerous other libraries, archives, museums, and private collectors have also been consulted to make this the most complete exhibition of its kind ever mounted. The exhibition will also appear in Spain.
Customer Reviews:
An easy to understand narrative of the Spanish Civil War.......2007-06-21
Hugh Thomas account of the Spanish Civil War is the most thorough version of the events written to date. His writing style makes the reader believe the entire account could be fiction. It is very easy to read and you hardly feel like you are reading history at all. The Spanish Civil War is one of the most devastating conflicts of the 20th century. It is the precursor to World War II and showcased as well as trained some of Germany, Italy and Russia's top talent. The sheer devastation of tactics involved bullied a civilian population and decimated a country. The rise of Francisco Franco and his victory over the communists was made possible by fascist intervention. The democracies of the world worked hard to try and effect a peace but they were unsuccessful against the determination of the fascists and the communists to prolong the conflict. This is a complicated conflict to understand but Hugh Thomas tries to simplify it as much as he can. This is the best start to understanding the Spanish Civil War and for those who want to understand how World War II began.
The Spanish Civil War: Revised Edition (Modern Library Paperbacks).......2006-11-10
Hugh Thomas combines sound judgment with extensive research. The result is a history that tells you what you want to know and what you need to know.
SPANISH CIVIL WAR PRIMER.......2006-06-20
As the 70th Anniversary of the beginning of the Spanish Civil War is approaching this writer is reviewing some important works that militants should read in order to draw the lessons of the defeat of the Spanish revolution. The writer has been interested, as a pro-Republican partisan, in the Spanish Civil War since he was a teenager. What initially perked my interest, and remains of interest, is the passionate struggle of the Spanish working class to create its own political organization of society, its leadership of the struggle against Spanish fascism and the romance surrounding the entry of the International Brigades, particularly the American Abraham Lincoln Battalion of the 15th Brigade, into the struggle.
Underlying my interests has always been a nagging question of how that struggle could have been won by the working class. The Spanish proletariat certainly was capable of both heroic action and the ability to create organizations that reflected its own class interests i.e. the worker militias and factory committees. Of all modern working class revolutions after the Russian revolution Spain showed the most promise of success. Bolshevik leader Leon Trotsky noted that the political class-consciousness of the Spanish proletariat was higher than that of the Russian proletariat in 1917. Yet it failed in Spain. Mr. Thomas' history of the period, if only indirectly, gives some answers to the reasons for that failure.
When I say indirectly I mean just that. Mr. Thomas's history is strong on the main events, actions and points of the struggle. Militants, unfamiliar with the events of the Spanish Civil War can profitably use this history as a basic reader. However, if a militant is seeking to draw the lessons of the Spanish Civil War this book is not an adequate source and he or she must look elsewhere. Furthermore, Mr. Thomas makes no pretense to offer such a perspective and this writer would argue that he was hostile to any perspective but the view of high European, especially British, governmental politics. Fair enough. There is still plenty of basic information to be gleaned from this work.
The Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939 has been the subject of innumerable works from every possible political and military perspective possible. A fair number of such treatises, especially from those responsible for the military and political policies on the Republican side, are merely alibis for the disastrous policies that led to defeat. Mr. Thomas' work analyzes those policies. Unfortunately, he is not sensitive to the base of society that actually fought, endured or fled the war. What Mr. Thomas does find is the furious nature of the struggle in Spanish society between the old agrarian- based economy and the newer capitalist- based economy; the religious tensions caused by the breakup of the old agrarian society and the tensions between believers and church-burners; the struggle between centralizers and federalists which formed the core of the unresolved national questions, especially in Catalonia; the intense political struggles within the broad sections that supported both left and right, especially the role of the Stalinist police apparatus; the international ideological political factors that played a role, if not as erroneously assumed the decisive factor; and, finally, the burning personal antagonisms that in a civil war pit brother against brother, family against family, town against town, etc.. With the caveat mentioned above-read on.
The Definitive Account of the Spanish Civil War........2006-05-25
If all that you know about the Spanish Civil War comes from the works of Papa Hemingway or Pablo Picasso, this well researched history is for you. Thomas' work is well researched and librally cited throughout. He reviewed the surviving documents for both sides and interviewed many of the surviving players including Germans and Russians involved in a War which was a training ground for the European Dictatorships in preparing for World War II.
Thomas lays out the causes of the war in part one. He gives us a breif history of the various parties of the Left and Right and their grievances which lead to the revolt against the Spanish Republic and Franco's Right Wing Dictatorship which ruled Spain until the 1970's.
His review of the campaigns and international intrigue make for a good review of the events for non Spaniards who may not be familiar with this bloody period of European History where tanks, terror bombing, and blitzkreig were used for the first time.
His discussion of European diplomacy in the book shows all the major players including the Germans and the Russians looking for a way to leave Spain without losing face and without triggering another World War before anyone was ready. In the end World War 2 nearly started a few years early and would probably been a two front war at once.
He looks without judgement at the atrochities committed by both sides Republican and Nationalists which were horrendous enough to make their Nazi and Stalinist Soviet advisors cringe.
A very Good History of the Period Leading to World War 2.
This be the one.......2005-12-01
Detailed and objective this is the touchstone of anyone who is serious about studying the Spanish Civil War. It has all the grit, politics and dark savagery of the conflict that was the precursor to WW II
Book Description
In this compelling book Stanley G. Payne offers the first comprehensive narrative of Soviet and Communist intervention in the revolution and civil war in Spain. He documents in unprecedented detail Soviet strategies, Comintern activities, and the role of the Communist party in Spain from the early 1930s to the end of the civil war in 1939. Drawing on a very broad range of Soviet and Spanish primary sources, including many only recently available, Payne changes our understanding of Soviet and Communist intentions in Spain, of Stalin's decision to intervene in the Spanish war, of the widely accepted characterization of the conflict as the struggle of fascism against democracy, and of the claim that Spain's war constituted the opening round of World War II. The author arrives at a new view of the Spanish Civil War and concludes not only that the Democratic Republic had many undemocratic components but also that the position of the Communist party was by no means counterrevolutionary.
Book Description
Gerald Brenan’s The Spanish Labyrinth has become the classic account of the background to the Spanish Civil War. Written during and immediately after the Civil War, the book has all the vividness of the author’s experience. It represents a struggle to see the issues in Spanish politics objectively, whilst bearing witness to the deep involvement which is the only possible source of much of this richly detailed account. As a literary figure on the fringe of the Bloomsbury group, Gerald Brenan lends to this narrative an engaging personal style that has become familiar to many thousands of readers over the decades since it was first published.
Download Description
Gerald Brenan's The Spanish Labyrinth has become the classic account of the background to the Spanish Civil War. Written during and immediately after the Civil War, the book has all the vividness of the author's experience. It represents a struggle to see the issues in Spanish politics objectively, whilst bearing witness to the deep involvement which is the only possible source of much of this richly detailed account. As a literary figure on the fringe of the Bloomsbury group, Gerald Brenan lends to this narrative an engaging personal style that has become familiar to many thousands of readers over the decades since it was first published.
Customer Reviews:
An Incisive Assessment of an Important but Forgotten Historical Episode.......2006-04-15
Gerald Brenan's THE SPANISH LABYRINTH is a masterful account of the mosaic of the history and immediate events leading to the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Brenan effectively deals with the complexities of Spanish political history from the end of the Napoleonic Wars (c. 1799-1815)to the start of the Spanish Civil War. Brenan is clear that the Spanish Civil War was the culmination of events of the early 19th century to 1936. In other words, he does not provide a "quick fix" to superficially explain these events. Another asset of this book is the fact that Brenan carefully examines the Spanish Civil War based on a precise review of Spanish Civil War. Brenan dismisses the notion that too many lazy historians use in describing the Spanish Civil War as one between righteous "Democracy" and wicked "Fascism."
Brenan is one of the few historians who gives the reader an explanation of how geogrpahy and climate affected Spain's political history. Since the 17th century, Spain was geographically and culturally isolated from the rest of Europe. Historically, Spain was forgotten by the rest of Europe. Brenan also gives the reader a geography of Spain's topography and climate regions. Parts of Spain were mountainous while other areas were flat plains. Some areas of Spain get adequet rainfall while other areas are semiarid at best. This geography lesson is important in understanding the reasons for Spain's political instability. Those Spanish farmers or peasants who lived in areas that were semiarid and had poor land were often those Spaniards who were more rebellious against the old monarchy and landlords. On the other hand, those Spanish farmers who lived in areas with decent rainfall and adequet rainfall, were less likely to rebel and were more conservative.
Brenan's assessment of the "Spanish character" is interesting. Brenan describes the Spanish peasants as proud, charitible, enthusiastic, excitable, etc. This was probably true of almost all Spaniards regardless of class. These characteritics were assests and liabilities. The urge to rebel against perceived injustice is easier to explain. On the other hand, these characteristics were liabilities that often prevented political unity and a clear program. As Brenan explains, these characteristics and divisions were common for both the Spanish "Left" and Spanish "Right." Brenan explains that there were often instances whereby the Spanish "Leftists" and "Rightists" switched sides because of temporary common interests.
Brenan also gives the reader a "scorecard" regarding the different political parties. He describes each party and leader as well as their political program. These parties included the Monarchists, the Liberals, the Catholic parties, the Military, the Socialists, the Anarchists, the Anarcho-Syndicalists, the Carlists, ect. Readers may be interested in knowing the within these political parties there were bitter political divisions. These internal divisions were often just as bitter or more so than the animosity shown toward opposing political parties. This helps explain the political instability from the early 19th century to 1936. These political divisions also inform the reader that the start of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 did not "just happen." There were previous rebellions, civil wars, and political unrest long before 1936. Brenan's political sympathies were probably with the Spanish "Leftists," but he is clear about their political blunders and excessive violence. In other words, Brenan does not ignore the excesses of the political violence of either side during the 19th and 20th centuries which other bland historians do without doing any serious research.
Brenan's last chapter which deals with the start of the Spanish Civil War is good. He explains that one of the political liabilities of the "Left" was their hostility toward the Catholic Church which was excessive and alienated a large segment of Spaniards. Brenan argues that a reasonable reconciliation could have helped the Spanish "Left" and the Spanish Republic against the Franco's Phlangists. Brenan also gives a good account of how Soviet Stalinist agents helped as well as hindered the Spanish "Left." The Republic survived as long as it did due to Soviet arms. Yet, the Soviet disciplined bureaucratic mind did not fit well with the Spaniards' independence of spirit and pride. Therefore, the Soviet sympathizers and agents did not cooperate with some of the Spanish "Leftists" and withheld arms. This was expecailly true in regard to the Communists antipathy toward the Spanish Anarchists who fought so well early in the Spanish Civil War. Stalin was fearful that a successful Anarchist movement would antagonize the Western Europeans against the Soviets. One could argue that Soviet diplomatic interests far outweighed any independent revolutionary ideals or Spanish revolutionary goals.
Brenan's THE SPANISH LABYRINTH should be read along with George Orwell's HOMAGE TO CATALONIA and Franz Borkenaus's THE SPANISH COCKPIT. These books explain the complexities and the importance of the Spanish Civil War. These books also undermine the superficial historical accounts which display many historians' ignorance and intellectual laziness. One should note that both Brenan and Orwell had a high regard of the Spaniards' character and courage. The fact that Franco's Phalangists won the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939 may have been due to the political divisions of the Spanish Republic and the parties who were supporting this government more than Franco's political ability. Brenan's book is well worth reading.
A good history of 19th century Spain and up to 1936.......1999-06-15
Only for those with an interest and some background in Spanish history and politics. Sets the stage for the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Well written and readable; the English author uses research as well as first-hand experience to paint the complex mosaic of Spanish political factions. In the last line of the epilogue he condemns the English policy of appeasement toward Hitler of allowing the Spanish Civil War to take place by not imposing an arms embargo against Germany. The Spanish fascists were allowed to import German arms and thus, eventually, maintain superior firepower over the Republicans.
Another piece in the history puzzle; worth reading.
Book Description
“No man ever entered earth more honorably than those who died in Spain.”
—
Ernest Hemingway
In 1937, Hank Rubin, a twenty-year-old Jewish pre-med student at UCLA, volunteered for service in the International Brigades combating fascists in the Spanish Civil War. In his illustrated memoir, Rubin reflects on those events, making no apologies for his youthful impulsiveness, bravado, and ideology, but recalling the heroics and sufferings he witnessed and experienced in Spain, as well as the disappointing treatment he received upon his return.
Customer Reviews:
A Must-Read for anyone interested in the Spanish Civil War.......2006-10-16
One of my main historical interests is the Spanish Civil War and the role played in it by the International Brigades to combat Franco's Nationalist forces. I read "Spain's Cause Was Mine" a couple of years ago, but I recently revisited it and was once again struck by the humanity, nobility and idealism of Hank Rubin. Any historian of the International Brigades will tell you, that a good number of volunteers were college students. Rubin begins his account by retelling how, while sitting on the steps of the UCLA library, someone approached him and asked him if he would like to fight in Spain. He replied 'yes.' So begins his journey from college student to volunteer, to medic, to casualty, and cecoming ultimately, survivor. Rubin provides a simple yet poignant narrative of what went through his mind and what all the volunteers had to face in combat. While initally, disappointed that he was not assigned to front-line duty, he came to appreciate his role behind the scenes. This actually, allowed him to absorb it all and put down his thoughts in writing.
Rubin writes about some of the brutal campaigns from Brunete to Teruel and Grañen. He also places the Spanish Civil War in an international context, noting Germany and Italy's aid to Franco's troops and the US position of maintaining an embargo against the Spanish Second Republic. To anyone knowledgeable about the Spanish Civil War, this isn't anything new. However, coming from an actual participant, who was fully aware of his own government's indirect complicity in causing the demise of the Spanish Second Republic, it is worth reading.
I was touched by a poem written by Rubin following the death of a comrade at arms, who he was unable to save in the medic tent. It captures fear, hesitation and pain that too often accompanies any soldier who goes off to war. I quote it here: "From far away, from Everett on the Puget Sound with the peace of its water the serenty of its green hlls you came from so far to a dusty plain, to mountains without peace. You expected to fly to strike the enemy boldly from the sky, guns roaring your strong hands guiding your plane, triggering your guns. Instead you had to fight on foot, did you ever expect to die? To have a bullet in your head? To suffer your guts torn apart? And was it worth it? Was the pain too much? Was there even pain for you? Was the cost of death too high?
This is an excellent memoir from someone who participated in an event that far too many Americans are unaware of. I recommend this to anyone interested in learning more about the Spanish Civil War. Other recommended books along this vein: Peter Carroll's "The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade," and "American Commander in Spain," by Marion Merriman and Warren Lerude.
A remarkable military memoir.......2004-12-21
"Spain's Cause Was Mine: A Memoir of an American Medic in the Spanish Civil War," by Hank Rubin, is a well-written and enlightening narrative. A large chunk of the book details the long odyssey that took him from Los Angeles and through France enroute to service in Spain--a quest taken in defiance of an international non-intervention pact. This section of the book is a real adventure story with an almost dystopian flavor.
Equally fascinating is the portion of the book detailing his actual time with the Spanish army, during which he served in a machine gun squad and as a medical laboratory technician. Rubin explores the unique challenges in putting together a multinational, multiethnic, and multilingual fighting force. He details the illness, discomfort, and deprivations that the troops endured in order to uphold their ideals.
In addition to covering such down-to-earth issues as mail call and footgear, Rubin also offers some potent reflections on wartime morality and medical ethics. Particularly interesting are his thoughts on the impact of his Jewish identity on his decision to enlist. His writing style is largely straightforward, but graced with occasional passages of great beauty and power.
Rubin's narrative really educated me about the unique place of Spanish Civil War veterans in the United States. This book is a valuable and enjoyable addition to the canon of American military memoirs.
Average customer rating:
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Surrealism and the Spanish Civil War
Robin Adele Greeley
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Facing Fascism: New York and the Spanish Civil War
ASIN: 0300112955 |
Book Description
How might artistic practice offer unique insight into the cataclysmic debacle of war? Surrealism and the Spanish Civil War plumbs this provocative question through an ambitious account of a pivotal period in European cultural history. The book focuses on the relation between artistic endeavor and politics during a period of social crisis. By scrutinizing the widely varying responses to the Spanish Civil War in the work of Miró, Dalí, Caballero, Masson, and Picasso, the author investigates Surrealism’s efforts to bridge the divide between political thought and political act.
Robin Adèle Greeley examines such central works as Miró’s Still Life with Old Shoe and Dalí’s Autumn Cannibalism in the context of contemporary works and historical events. She also examines such topics as Surrealism’s flirtations with fascism, the movement’s relations with the Communist Party and the Popular Front, and the distinct development of Spanish versus French Surrealism. She concludes with an in-depth discussion of Picasso’s Guernica.
Customer Reviews:
Best single-volume study of Republic and Civil War.......2001-11-19
I am astounded that no one has yet reviewed this book. Originally published in 1965, it remains the classic center-left interpretation of the Republic and Civil War. It is balanced, well researched and comprehensive. For those looking for a more conservative treatment of this period, see Stanley Payne's "Spain's First Democracy."
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