The Spanish Civil War

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.

THe Spanish Civil war is apparently one of the most written on moments of the 20th century, and even if this is true, this book stands out as one of the best full, one volume, histories of the event, which began in 1936 and ended in 1939. The war is fascinating because it pitted so many competeing ideologies against one another. It was a war of secular versus religious. Of Rural versus urban. Of fascist versus communist. of democracies(sort of) verus autocracy. It was in some ways a popular war versus militarism. It was a 'world war in minature' and a war of 'two revolutions'. Thomas is the best chronicler of this, and his higly readable account is must read for everyone interested in the origins of world war two or Spain, or world history in the 20th century. The Spanish civil war was a defining experience not just for Spain but for the various administrations across Europe in the 30s. It saw the mass intervetnion of both Stalins Russia and Mussoluni and Hitler. it saw international brigades raised across Europe to fight for one side or another and one found in Spain German communists, having come from exile in spain, fighting against the German condor legion. Thomas's is slightly weak on his exploration of the origin of the war, perhaps because he does not weight the sheer chaos that was taking place, in part this is due to hsi non-judgemental method of writing, and he should be praised, but one wonders, why he does not give a better detail of just how total chaos had gripped the countyrside in 1936. He seems to underestimate the red terror, but in the end he is quick to see that both Franco and the Communists wanted only dictatorship in the end, their was no good in the war, only bad, and the end could only be negative. A fascinating account about a fascinating topic. The military anlalysis is good as are the character descriptions, with a fast lucid style and standard British whit, the text is good for the historian or the laymen. Seth J. Frantzman

This 1994 edition (a 2nd or 3rd revision of the first edition put out c. 1980 I believe) is apparently not available because a newer revised edition is coming out in November 2001 with updated information no doubt--you should pick up this latest coming edition. Understanding the subject of the Spanish Civil War has been plagued by two major obstacles: 1) The use of the Spanish Civil war as merely a prelude to WWII by historians of the English speaking world, i.e., crudely lumping in Franco and the Nationalists as just a Spanish variation of Facism; this ignores the study of Spanish history in its own right and the unique and tragic facets of Iberian history; 2) The use and abuse of the Spanish Civil War as an ideological forum for anarchists and "Trotskyite" anti-Stalinist communists, again, mostly from the English speaking world. The biased accounts of Anglo/American/Canadian leftists of this period (as well as Hemingway's romanticized fiction) have distorted and confused the event in the eyes of the English-speaking world. Its good to see an English scholar clear up this mess. Thomas' account clearly delineates the various factions and their goals on both sides, pointing out that lack of unity and in-fighting of the various factions of the left-of-center Republican side (if "Republican" is even a proper term to use by the time the Stalinists were done with it) was probably more decisive in leading to its downfall than the outside pressure of the Nationalists (who were by no means unified in ideology, but greatly more cooperative amongst themselves than the Republicans). The "cowardly" stance of the Democratic Western countries is made understandable and must be seen in the context of their own instability and weakness of the time. In retrospect, any aid to Republican Spain would have probably only helped the Stalinist-controlled communists complete their strangle-hold on the Republican coalition government, the other factions--especially the anarchists--being severely and savagely purged by them (my own opinion). In any case, Thomas' outstanding research and balanced account of the event allows each reader to draw their own conclusion without undue ideological bias. If you read only one history of the Spanish Civil War, this is the one to have.

When I moved to Barcelona, Spain in 1980, people were still talking about the Civil War. They had only recently been allowed public discussion of such topics since the death of the dictator, Franco. So, the war was still very recent for a lot of people. I couldn't understand who all the factions were and what the background of this conflict was when listening to people talk about it. I found this book, read it and it told me everything I wanted to know. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in this era of Spanish history. Very well-written and readable.

Simply put, the best account there is of the Spanish Civil War, the bloodiest ideollogical conflict of the 20th century. Mr. Thomas' book is both unbiased and committed. Full of facts, few maps, no photographs (none that I remember), and spellbinding reading! Don't miss it!By the way, why do you rate some books with stars and others not? Just asking.