The Spanish Civil War was characterised by the involvement of foreigners. It was Englishmen who arranged the means for General Franco to reach Morocco and lead the rebellion, and when this failed, it was Hitler and Mussolini who provided the aircraft that transported the Army of Africa to Spain. One American was soon describing the conflict as ‘a little world war on Spanish soil’: German and Italian Fascist troops ‘under Franco’s banner storm trenches held by French, German and Italian anti-Fascists’. By early 1937, with Russian involvement increasing, Ernest Hemingway was rightly calling it ‘the dress rehearsal for the inevitable European war’. Like A Crisis of Brilliance, I am Spain focuses on the experiences of an inter-connected group of individuals
some famous, others largely unknown
to tell the story of a fascinating period of history. It uses a wide range of original sources, from personal letters, diaries, memoirs and contemporary newspaper reports, to published biographies and autobiographies. The key figures in the book include George Orwell, Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, Robert Capa, Claud Cockburn, John Cornford, Tom Wintringham, Martha Gellhorn and Gustav Regler. REVIEWS: ‘Haycock’s narrative of this entangled, war-defined group is so strong that it often has the force of a novel, hard to put down.’ - Guardian, Book of the Week ‘Vivid and entertaining… I greatly enjoyed it’ - Michael Holroyd ‘Truly fascinating from every angle’ - Books Quarterly ‘An extraordinary book’ - Ronald Blythe ‘Endlessly appealing’ - Metro
It’s well known that writers including Cornford, George Orwell, Stephen Spender, WH Auden, John Dos Passos and Ernest Hemingway went to war, but this is the first book to show clearly who was where when, moving through the war month by month. The results are fascinating. David Boyd Haycock is a skilful historian, providing analyses of the political and military machinations at the same time as he brings the battles to life. And he makes the most of his colourful cast, strewing the narrative with splendidly unlikely tales of quirky heroism. By the end of the book it feels as though almost every eccentric British intellectual found his or her way to Spain. GUARDIAN
