Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30930 in Books
• Published on: 1995-02-07
• Binding: Paperback
• 1024 pages

Synopsis
Generalissimo Francisco Franco, the Caudillo of Spain from the Nationalists' brutal, Fascist-sponsored victory over the Republican government in the Spanish Civil War until his quiet death in 1975, is the subject of this book. The biography presents a mass of new and unknown material about its subject, the fruits of research in the archives of six countries and a plethora of interviews with key figures. Paul Preston is the author of "The Triumph of Democracy in Spain" and "The Spanish Civil War 1936-9".

From the Publisher
YORKSHIRE POST BOOK OF THE YEAR 1994
"General Franco was the most successful of 20th-century dictators in Europe. He was also the most unlikely. Franco had none of the charisma of some of his counterparts. Yet he was loved and hated as much as any of them. The portrait of Franco that emerges here is is far removed from both the demonologies and the hagiographies to which he has been subjected for so long. Preston's book skilfully weaves together anecdote and analysis in a seemingly effortless and enthralling narrative. His portrait is fascinating and chilling at the same time. As a biography of Franco, it is unlikely to be surpassed." Sebastian Balfour, SCOTSMAN

"Will stand as the definitive biography of the Caudillo...no history of modern Spain can be written from now on without constant recourse to the lavish and fascinating details and the penetrating analyses of this masterly work." Bernard Knox, LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS

"It is difficult to see this marvellous, brilliantly written and surely authoritative biography ever being matched. It is a book which any historian would be proud to have written." Ian Kershaw, TIMES HIGHER

"No previous study has told us so much about the formation of Franco's character. It grips the reader even in familiar passages from Franco's life. Its poised judgements and masterful scholarship make it certain to endure and difficult to refute." EUROPEAN

"This terrific book finally buries Franco. I read all its pages with unfailing fascination and sometimes astonishment. It is a tremendous piece of work." INDEPENDENT

"Preston's book is a work of great scholarship, making use of much new material. But it is not dry : He is a master of narrative, with an eye for the arresting and sometimes horrific detail. A gripping read." DAILY TELEGRAPH

"Brilliantly clear-minded and detailed...the definitive biography of Franco; there is nothing to match it in Spanish. It is a triumph of clarity, judicious analysis and detailed research." Colm Toibin, SUNDAY TIMES

Customer Reviews

Product of its time
An exhaustively researched book, but like Raymond Carr in his interview with "El Pais" at the time of publication, I find too much of the author in it. Preston seems to have known what conclusion he would reach even before gathering the material on Franco and to that extent is unprofessional. Anyone wishing to get to the heart of the Spanish psyche would be well advised to read this book with caution.

On the whole, entertaining but very much a product of its time--a vaguely liberal/left-wing anglo script born of British 60s ideology and temptingly served with enough biographical details to satisfy the most avid armchair psychologist of the 90s, wishing to pass judgement on the poltical figures of the past. I doubt if this biography will pass the test of time.

A must read for anybody interested in 20th c. Spain
Despite it's initial size, this is a book that concisly explains the evolution of Franco from the early, eager military cadet to the cool, absent caudillo he became.

It sheds new light on the persona of Europes youngest general since Napoleon, and on the only Western European Dictator to survive the usual fate of such tyrants.

A wonderful book that reads more like a novel than a historical text.

Fascinating And Riveting
I was a little daunted by the size of this book but quickly found it enthralling and totally enlightening. Whether as a history of modern Spain or an insightful analysis of the mind and personality of Europe's most resiliant dictator, this is a fascinating and riveting read. It seems that Paul Preston didn't like Franco much at all but this adds flavour to the text and avoids the moral cowardice of cool neutrality. Franco emerges as the possessor of inhuman levels of sang froid and no moral scruple whatsoever, coupled with toughness, preening vanity and a relentless drive for vegeance. The political pragmatist par excellence who could adapt his ideals at any moment to suit the prevailing political climate; Franco was a man like no other and could have given lessons to Machiavelli in the art of survival and political manipulation. Although viewing himself as the king of all Spain and even as Spain itself he was under the skin a 'gallego' through and through; and was an enthusiastic football fan, who liked to do the pools (which he won twice). There is a comical paradox between his desire for pomp and ceremony, and his more ordinary preoccupations. As his instincts for survival faded with age, he himself was out-manoeuvred by the forces of liberalism and his death marked the beginning of democracy in Spain. It is on this positive note that the book ends and it seems almost miraculous, that a country so riven by regionalism and such a heritage of political oppression, could make the transition so smoothly and quickly. I consider it a very important and book indeed.