From Library Journal
Few events in the 20th century have evoked such bitter academic and personal controversy as the role of the Soviet-dominated Communist International(Comintern) in the Spanish civil war. As the introduction to this splendid collection of Comintern documents explains, "the difficulty...has lain in proving the common allegation about Soviet intentions." This rich trove of archival correspondence between Soviet representatives and Moscow provides definitive answers. Perhaps least surprising is the obsessive concern on the part of the Communists with "Trotskyist" and anarchist allies of the Loyalist government. Comintern contempt for the Loyalist government and the "sectarian" Spanish Communist Party confirms Moscow's objective of domination before victory over the fascist rebellion. Indeed, Comintern leader Georgi Dimitrov advises that the "guise of defending the Republic" should not be compromised by premature efforts to install a "dictatorship of the proletariat." For historians, this correspondence offers detailed and multiple reports for the duration of the war. Soviet agents such as Dimitrov, Andre Marty, Ernest Gero, and Palmiro Togliatti anticipated Stalinist tactics in postwar Europe. The editors offer commentary that helps explain the complex panorama of the war and the impact of Soviet decisions on its outcome. Highly recommended for academic and larger public libraries. [July is the 65th anniversary of the civil war's beginning. Ed.] Zachary T. Irwin, Pennsylvania State Univ., Eri.
- Zachary T. Irwin, Pennsylvania State Univ., Erie Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"Everything that was ever suspected about the Comintern line in Spain turns out to have been true." --
Christopher Hitchens, Wilson Quarterly"If Spain were Vietnam [the pages of Spain Betrayed] would be its Pentagon Papers." --
Sam Tanenhaus,Vanity Fair"It will effect a complete overturn in historical perceptions of the twentieth-century Left." --
Stephen Schwartz, Weekly Standard"Spain Betrayed gives the weight and substance of documentary evidence to a subject that has always provoked deep feeling." --
Richard Bernstein, New York Times"This rich trove of archival correspondence between Soviet representatives and Moscow provides definitive answers. . . . Highly recommended." --
Zachary T. Irwin, Library Journal"[In Spain Betrayed,] proof of how Stalin had been betraying the Spanish Republican from day one of the Civil War." --
Arnold Beichman, Washington Times"[Spain Betrayed] deserves the highest commendation for presenting an absolutely unique trove of original documentation
[like] no other previous work." --
Stanley G. Payne, Los Angeles Times Book Review"[T]his book is a highly useful map through the thicket of deceit that often passes for scholarship on the war." --
Michael J. Ybarra, Wall Street JournalThis documentary collection, introduced by summary and interpretation, is truly extraordinary and will be a major resource. --
ChoiceThe opening of archives in the former Soviet Union has, in recent years, allowed the publication of a number of books on the Spanish Civil War, which have forced many to reconsider the role of the Soviet Union and the Comintern in the Iberian conflict: far for being, as Stalin put it, "the concern of all progressive humanity", the war proved instead to be a golden opportunity for Moscow alone, who ruthlessly exploited the Spanish Republic, both politically and financially. "Spain Betrayed" is a very important contribution to this line of scholarship, providing us with eighty select documents (at least one, General Kléber's report, nearly one-hundred pages long), a bonanza for many a scholar, an for sure a matter of concern for others. The documents shed a lot of light on how the soviets operated in Spain, confirming a lot of things that we already know, and giving the lie to others. For example, the much vaunted "solidarity" of the members of the International Brigades with their Spanish colleagues, was often just propaganda, as proven by the report of General Walter. It is unfortunate that, for commercial reasons, a book can be only of a certain size, since Spain Betrayed publishes but the tip of the documentary iceberg on the Spanish Civil War made available after the fall of the Berlin wall. To be fair, compared to other books of the "Annals of Communism" series, this one appears to be somewhat under-edited: in a number of instances, there are no endnotes explaining who are certain people who appear in the text of the documents (such as Ilio Barontini o Carlo Penchienati), and one can be pretty sure that this will become an issue for those ideologically hostile to the book. In my opinion, however, all the above does not diminish the value of the book's contents, even if some people are bound to wring their hands over it. --By A Customer
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.