A Short History of the Spanish Civil War (I.B.Tauris Short Histories) - Hardcover

Casanova, Julián

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1848856571 ISBN 13: 9781848856578

Publisher: I.B.Tauris, 2013

Synopsis

The years of the Spanish Civil War filled twentieth-century Spain with hope, frustration and drama. Not only did it pit countryman against countryman, and neighbor against neighbor, but from 1936-39 this bitterly contended struggle sucked in competing and seemingly atavistic forces that were soon to rage across the face of Europe, and then the rest of the world: nationalism and republicanism; communism and fascism; anarchism and monarchism; anti-clerical reformism and aristocratic Catholic conservatism. The ""Guerra Civil"" is of enduring interest precisely because it represents much more than just a regional contest for power and governmental legitimacy. It has come to be seen as a seedbed for the titanic political struggles and larger social upheavals that scarred the entire twentieth century. In elegant and accessible prose, Julián Casanova tells the gripping story of these years of anguish and trauma, which hit the country with a force hitherto unknown at any time in Spain's history. Charting the most significant events and battles alongside the main players in the tragedy, he provides answers to some of the pressing questions (such as the roots and extent of anti-clerical violence) that have been asked in the seventy years that have passed since the painful defeat of the Second Republic.

About this title

About the Author:

Julián Casanova is Professor of History at the University of Zaragoza. His books include Anarchism, the Republic and Civil War in Spain: 1931-1939 (2005) and The Spanish Republic and Civil War (2010).

Review:

'Julián Casanova is one of the most original and exciting historians currently working on the Spanish Civil War. His books on anarchism, the Catholic Church and the Francoist repression have earned him a glowing international reputation. This short history draws on his own research and combines his trademark reliability and readability in a book that students and general readers alike will find invaluable.' – Paul Preston, Príncipe de Asturias Professor of Contemporary Spanish History, London School of Economics

'Julián Casanova is one of the most productive of the current generation of Spanish intellectuals who are determined that democracy and human rights, now better established than in any previous period of Spanish history, will become the habitual and accepted framework of Spanish public life. He shows clearly how the political shortcomings of the Republic, the enthusiasm of Mussolini and Hitler to aid General Franco, the Stalinist mixture of military aid with secretive political interference in the life of the Republic, and the failure of the Western democracies to aid the Republic, all combined to assure the military victory and postwar dictatorship of Franco. This is an excellently written and very carefully documented history of the Civil War of 1936-39.'- Gabriel Jackson, Professor Emeritus of History, University of California, San Diego

'Julián Casanova is one of Spain's leading historians. His innovative and ground-breaking research on the Spanish Civil War and its long aftermath has also garnered him an international reputation, and in this Short History he distils his rich knowledge and insight into a readable synthesis. Casanova explains the deep domestic origins of the Spanish war, while also placing it in its proper European context of convulsive continental change from First to Second World Wars. Students and general readers alike will find his book informative, enlightening and thought-provoking in equal measure.' - Helen Graham, Professor of Modern Spanish History, Royal Holloway, University of London

About this edition

• Publisher: I.B.Tauris
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1848856571
• ISBN 13: 9781848856578
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256