The story he tells is grimly familiar, but he presents it with a freshness, an eye for detail and a degree of detachment that makes this one of the best accounts to date of the Spanish crisis ( Evening Standard)Īntony Beevor's revised history of the Civil War, which vividly anatomises a state and a society in the process of disintegration, is a tract for our times. This is a great achievement ( Daily Telegraph)Ī very different book, which displays all Beevor's exceptional narrative skills and literary flair. Beevor's understanding of warfare and tactics is second to none. What Beevor does so well is to place the war in the context of Spanish history and world politics. It is an admirably clear-sighted account.

It is even-tempered and full of good sense. The narrative is masterly, wonderfully clear as a guide through the labyrinth. a great achievement (Miranda France Daily Telegraph)Ī moving masterpiece of the indictment of war (Felipe Fernández-Armesto Times Literary Supplement)Ī gripping, revelatory account ( Sunday Telegraph) In many ways it's his most impressive book to date because he coolly makes sense of such a complicated story: the narrative sweep is consummate, the seamless use of so many sources masterful, and the eye for details makes it a superb read (Simon Sebag Montefiore Mail on Sunday)Īn admirably clear-sighted account. a vivid chronicle of a dreadful time and place (Max Hastings Sunday Times) 'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title.įascination lies in the human drama, superbly captured by Beevor.

And he succeeds especially well in unravelling the complex political and regional forces that played such an important part in the origins and history of the war. The civil war that tore Spain apart between 19 and attracted liberals and socialists from across the world to support the cause against Franco was one of the most hard-fought and bitterest conflicts of the 20th century: a war of atrocities and political genocide and a military testing ground before WWII for the Russians, Italians and Germans, whose Condor Legion so notoriously destroyed Guernica.Īntony Beevor's account narrates the origins of the Civil War and its violent and dramatic course from the coup d'etat in July 1936 through the savage fighting of the next three years which ended in catastrophic defeat for the Republicans in 1939.

The bestselling author of STALINGRAD and BERLIN: THE DOWNFALL on the Spanish Civil War, drawing on masses of newly discovered material from the Spanish, Russian and German archives.

The Battle for Spain by Antony Beevor