Product Description

Though more than half a century has passed since the Spaish Civil War began in 1936, it is still the subject of intense controversy. What was it that roused left wing sympathisers from all over the world to fight for a cause for which their governments would not give active support? In his famous history, Hugh Thomas presents an objective analysis of a conflict - where fascism and democracy, communism and Christianity, centralism and regionalism were all at stake - and which was a much an international civil war as a Spanish one.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84029 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 1120 pages

About the Author
HUGH THOMAS (Lord Thomas of Swynnerton) is the author of a number of highly successful histories, most famously CUBA, THE SLAVE TRADE and THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR.

Customer Reviews

An impartial and reliable account of the Spanish civil war
This is not a common work. First of all, it must have been extraordinarily difficult to explain the Spanish civil war taking a distance and being able to be objective, neutral when describing such a controversial event. Besides, the explanations of the facts are very clear. The author manages to make the reading of this book a pleasure for those fond of History. Absolutely recommendable.

A great overview of the conflict
Hugh Thomas wrote this book after years of research and was able to interview direct witnesses of the main events.

The book was published only 25 years after the end of the war, Spain was still under the dictatorship of General Franco and many prominent republicans were living in the exile. Although the author tries to remain neutral on the account of events he is not always able to do so.

The book has special interest in the political dimension of the conflict and in particular the International involvement of the main European powers, the description of the main battles is somehow superficial in order limit the size of the book.

I was lucky enough to find a hardback first edition in a charity shop with elegant maps and a very useful index plus a list of selected bibliography.

Some of the vents described in the book have been disputed in recent years this book along with Anthony Beevor remain the most complete works so far.

A Balanced View of a Struggle which Still leaves its marks.
I enjoyed this book so much that I was at first shocked by the reviewer who said it was useless for him. On second thought, it probably is not a book for people without some background in 19th and 20th century European history. Most books on the subject tend to divide the various factions between villains and heroes. The reality is that so many horrible murders were carried out on both sides that it's difficult to see who the "good guys" are. When you here that in the beautiful Andalusian town of Ronda, left-wing militias gathered together much of the middle classes of the town and pushed them over the edge of the steep cliff, a panoramic beauty spot much visited by tourists, or that in Paracuellos many "bourgeois" captives were massacred in cold blood by left-wing death squads with probable Communist party connections, it makes your blood run cold. Priests slaughtered, nuns raped and assassinated, all these things are fully balanced out by the atrocities carried out by Franco's troops. Hugh Thomas is not a famous right-winger, so his description is all the more valuable and his sources impeccable. Perhaps the book's only failing is that not enough effort is made to understand the background of the conflict. Was this civil war really necessary? This is a splendid source for people hungry for knowledge about 20th Century, and is highly recommended.