Out of Prison: ETA Life Stories Become History (Basque Politics Series)

“In this engaging and original book, Nicolás Buckley draws on a unique body of oral history interviews with former armed activists in order to tell stories of ETA from inside. Locating these stories in the rapidly changing historical landscape of Spain during the late Franco and transition periods, the book challenges straightforward interpretations of the Basque independence movement as, alternatively, a ‘terrorist’ organization or victims of Spanish nationalism. Buckley combines historical analysis with reflections on his own personal experiences as a young Spanish student growing up in Madrid in the post-Franco era, arguing for the importance of generation in presenting alternative accounts of ETA from the Spanish perspective, and presenting an intriguing account of the role of ETA and Basque nationalism in shaping contemporary Spanish and national identity and social imaginary. Weaving together history, memory, and self reflection, this book makes a valuable contribution to the literature on ETA, Basque nationalism, and contemporary Spanish history.” Carrie Hamilton, Oral Historian

Dr. Nicolás Buckley holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. During his undergraduate studies, he spent an Erasmus year at the University of Warsaw, Poland. Upon graduation, he completed a master’s degree in Dispute and Conflict Resolution at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. Afterwards, he completed his doctoral thesis on the oral life stories of ETA activists (Basque Conflict), in the Department of History at Royal Holloway-University of London. During this period, he also worked as a researcher at the Cañada Blanch Centre for Spanish Contemporary Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Nowdays, Buckley is a professor at the Universidad Metropolitana del Ecuador, where he is working on his new book based on the oral life stories of the guerrilla “Alfaro Vive Carajo.”