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163 of 170 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A complex book on a complex conflict..., June 15, 2003
More political history than battlefield history, Anthony Beevor's recount of the Spanish Civil War is a complex look at the proxy war that took place in Spain just before the outbreak of the Second World War. A large portion of this book is devoted to the politics inside Spain both before and during the conflict, and the struggles within both "sides," as the political realities of the mid- to late thirties in Spain forced some incompatible ideologies together, eventually leading to the demise of the Republican government. The best thing about this book is that Beevor finds a way to break down the political struggle along three axes of conflict. While he often bounces back and forth from the battlefield to the political arenas while presenting mountains of complex information, he always finds a common thread and manages to pull all the facts presented back into the theme presented in a given chapter. Beevor's sympathies seem to lie with the Anarchists, though it seems that this is more a result of the fact that the Communists and the Fascists had foreign support from governments which history shows were less than benevolent. The Anarchist cause is typically portrayed in a more sypathetic light than the Communists and Fascists, whose aspirations were more totalitarian than the anarchists, who (at least as they are presented in this book) simply wanted the right to govern themselves. To his credit, however, he does not spare any party in the description of the murderous brutality between all participants. He takes extra time to explain the propaganda battle (a very important aspect of the conflict), from the atrocities committed against the Church to the efforts of both sides to win victories based on propaganda, rather than military, goals. Some of the political conundrums of Spain in the '30s are also presented. One of the most interesting is the plight of the Anarchists. They had a massive party capable of wielding immense power, but since they rejected the idea of elections, they were reduced to being bystanders in the political world. The compromises they made once the war started, as a result of the aggressive nature of the Communists (backed by the Stalinist USSR), and the backlash against the Communists near the end of the conflict, are a couple of the major underlying themes of this book. Beevor expalins it best when he says that "The Nationalists defended a common view of the past; the Republican coalition in contrast, had widely differing visions of the future." This is a very infomative book, and the reader will take a lot of understanding away from it. I would, however recommend two things, the first of which is to read and bookark the list of political parties and organizations on pages 285 through 287, before reading the rest of the book. The second is to take the time to write down the names of important individuals. This will significantly ease the reader's efforts to remember the mass of information presented. While this book is roughly 285 pages long, it is a very long 285 pages, as previous reviewers have noted, and is not an easy read.
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68 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Extremely effective history of a forgotten war..., March 29, 2003
The Spanish Civil War, by Anthony Beevor, is a fairly detailed survey of the history of this occasionally confusing period. Beevor spends a few chapters giving much needed historical background. The detail is necessary but a little dry and perhaps exhaustive to read as an introduction. The social and economic history of Spain is dealt with in enough detail to put the civil war in context. After covering the events leading up to the war, the bulk of the book is devoted to a very detailed, more or less chronological history of the war itself. The events leading the to defeat of the Spanish Republic are sometimes referred to as a civil war within a civil war. Much attention is paid to distinguishing the various factions and personalities on both sides of the war. The Carlists, the Falange, PUOM, the Communists, the anarchists, et al, are all dealt with in detail so the reader is never really confused about how their aims, and why they did what they did. Beevor also spends time discussing regional differences among various factions. Lots of attention is paid to how the Republican forces were consumed largely from within, and how the various Nationalist factions also suffered some degree of discord.. In the end, fractionalization of Republican forces, Soviet style purges, a Communist take-over and just plain bad military and political leadership led to their inevitable defeat. Beevor is dispassionate in his treatment of both sides. There's no real moralizing: I saw no obvious agenda. Instead, he gives detailed descriptions of the agendas, excesses and strengths and weaknesses of all sides and factions. Against all of this was the background of foreign intervention. Again, Beevor goes into detail about the German, Italian and Russian interventions, and the lessons learned (or not learned) by each. The book also covers the incredible failure of the European and American democracies to do anything stop the war, and the hypocrisy involved in all their policies vis-a-vis Spain and the treatment of the various factions. Overall, this book is an excellent history of the war. The detail is thorough enough to make some parts a little slow to read. All sides are covered in detail, with no evident political agenda. Events are covered in extreme detail and all the factions are thoroughly explained. I would not call this the `definitive' history of the war, but this is an excellent, detailed overview and a must read for anybody interested in this period.
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51 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mad Delusion Of Propaganda, July 31, 2006
This review is from: The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 (Paperback)
The Battle For Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 is a book that focuses on not just the causes of the conflict and military actions taken during it, but also on the ideals, goals and politics that shaped the two sides.
The facts of the war have always interested me and the author does a good job of adding new and updated information. I knew that the German pilots used the war to try out new tactics, like flying in pairs and mass bombing, but I didn't know that the Stuka dive-bomber was first used in the Spain or that the 88mms were used in Spain against ground targets as while as enemy aircraft (I thought the German 88mms were first used against ground targets in the invasion of France). I knew Germany and Italy helped the Nationalists while Russia and Mexico helped the Republic but had no idea that Hermann Goring sold weapons to the Republic or that Ford, Studebaker and GM supplied 12,000 trucks to Franco!
I did not know that Franco offered to enter the Second World War on the side of the Axis. I knew about the Spanish Blue Division but not about the thousands of Spanish Republicans who fought for the USSR or the French resistance.
First person accounts from Russian sources add new perspectives. Now, in all the sad detail, we can watch the infighting between socialists, anarchists, republicans, Basque nationalists, communists and so many other groups within the Republican Zone. We can watch the lies, the back stabbing, the tactics of terror, the dehumanization of the enemy, the string pulling, the blackmailing, the killings and the consequences of said actions as the war rages on. And the National Zone isn't a paradise either, with war trials that started almost with the first shot and did not end till sometime in the late 1950s.
The book also touches on European events and how the nations of the world reacted to (or failed to react to) the Spanish Civil War. Nothing is in a vacuum and the book makes clear the complex balance of power that the European powers were trying to weave to keep the peace. In the end the crumbling Republic would find itself a sideshow with the clouds of another World War forming on the future horizon.
The amazing part is Antony Beevor's skill in linking all the major events, one by one, without being too heavy handed. His light touch allows us to swiftly understand the problems each side faced and how each side dealt (or did not deal) with them. And the aftermath that followed.
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