As Beevor points out in this excellent book, while history is often written by the victors, in the case of the Spanish Civil War it was written by the losers. The myth of Republican Spain is a strong one, even today, powered by two factors (a) nationalists were supported by Germany and Italy, who turned out to be baddies and (b) the presence of so many celebrities on the Republican side (especially Hemmingway)
This is a brilliantly researched and engrossing book. Reading it is a bit depressing at times though, because not only did the Nationalists eventually win, the Republicans in many ways deserved to lose (they had poor leadership and failed to nip the revolt in the bud when they had the chance). Also, so many people died and there was so much suffering; failures of the liberals resulted in the strengthening of the communists, who were horrible and keen to torture; Western governments and business interests supported the Nationalists more than the Republicans (though the Republicans could still have won). Executions, propaganda, torture.
Occasionally it got a bit confusing who was who; also the fact that the book covered the whole war means the personal dimensions occasionally got lost. (Even Franco’s personality does not come across very vividly). The most exciting sequence comes when the Nationalists launch their coup and the war begins.
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