A Moment of War [Hardcover]

Laurie Lee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 1991

In December 1937 a naive young Englishman slipped across the Spanish frontier to fight for the Republican cause. In the third volume of his autobiographical trilogy, which began with "Cider With Rosie", Laurie Lee describes a winter fighting with the International Brigade. This is a view of the Spanish Civil War from below, a tragi-comic account of rivalry and ribaldry in the ranks. Lee's fellow volunteers were an ill-starred posse of Scots, Cockneys, Welsh miners and Frenchmen who drank, gambled and pursued women when not engaging the enemy. Lee himself fell for the ravishing Eulalia, a passionate young partisan who reappeared in his life with an almost miraculous sense of timing to ease his misfortunes. He was arrested and three times narrowly escaped execution in a war which claimed half a million lives. Reflecting on what had compelled him to fight, Lee reasoned that he had wanted "the chance to make one grand gesture of personal sacrifice and faith".

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

As a young, idealistic Englishman, Lee journeyed to Spain in 1937 to help the International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War. Now, more than 50 years later, this master of both prose and poetry (e.g., Selected Poems , Trafalgar Square, 1984) provides a stunning coming-of-age account that should attract a wide range of listeners, both young and old. Lee's descriptions of the harsh, frozen surroundings that he and his fellow soldiers contended with are conveyed with typical British understatement by reader Stephen Thorne. Thorne manages to handle Lee's beautifully restrained, lyrical prose with remarkable poise. Highly recommended for most biography collections.
- Mark Annichiarico, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

From AudioFile

NaivetŽ and modern warfare meet in the midst of the Spanish Civil War. Young Lee arrives in Spain prepared for battle though not for the skepticism nor his imprisonment. Thorne's matter-of-fact, almost conversational recital captures young Lee's trusting enthusiasm. Events, both petty and horrendous, are made credible without emotional histrionics. The reader's quiet energy gives Lee's character unspoken wonder and fear. Thorne provides well-rendered characterizations and near-perfect multi-national accents. It's a curious, yet compelling, odyssey. S.B.S. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Viking (October 14, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067084019X
• ISBN-13: 978-0670840199
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,712,101 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An accurate depiction of the Republican side of the Spanish civil war, June 28, 2007

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: A Moment of War (Hardcover)

This memoir of a young English man who volunteers to fight on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War describes in detail much of the squalor of that war. He departs from France and crosses into the Republican areas of Spain illegally with no preparation and no plan. He just walks across the border with a violin in his backpack and his actual passport. Once he arrives, the Republican forces assume that he is a spy, as his passport stamps prove that he was in Spanish Morocco shortly before the insurrection began.
He barely escapes from being shot and he becomes one more motley man in a motley crew of international volunteers. They have come from England, Belgium, Sweden, Russia and France, thinking that the Republican cause was a great crusade against fascism. However, disillusionment sets in very quickly as his adventure can be summed up with the phrase, `cold, ragged, dirty and hungry."
Lee captures the despair and pathetic destruction of the Spanish countryside during the war. The war has transformed the Spanish people into a ragged bad, on the brink of starvation and subject to death from artillery or aerial bombardment at any time. Eventually, he is put into battle and kills at least one member of the Franco forces. It gives him no joy and it is clear to all that he is such a poor soldier that not even the Republican forces, so desperate for fighting men, has a use for him. In a conclusion typical of this man's try for glory, he is arrested when he tries to go back to France, only to be rescued from prison by another British man.
The Republican forces in the Spanish Civil war accepted many idealistic young men and turned them into cynical men struggling to survive or a pile of rotting flesh. Lee captures many aspects of the conflict and unlike other authors such as Hemingway, who portrayed it as a great cause, describes it as a simple destroyer of men.