A rousing & full-blooded account of the Spanish Civil War & the rise to prominence of General Franco. No modern conflict has inflamed the passions of both civilians & intellectuals as much as the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39. Burned into our collective historical consciousness it not only prefigured the imminent Second World War but also ushered in a new & horrific form of warfare that would come to define the twentieth century. At the same time it echoed the revolutionary aspirations of millions of Europeans & Americans after the painful years of the Great Depression. In this authoritative history Paul Preston vividly recounts the political ideals & military horrors of the Spanish Civil War
- including the controversial bombing of Guernica
- & tracks the emergence of General Francos brutal but extraordinarily durable fascist dictatorship.