La Guerra Civil
I've been reading a recently published book by Peter Preston, this one link text I'm enjoying it as a holiday read. If you click on the link (5 customer reviews) you'll see, side by side two reviews one positive one very negative.
This sort of juxtaposition is just what the author of the article discusses and hopes to move beyond.
In this context it's interesting to read in todays local paper: Tus muertos... y los míos también link text an interesting and balanced article about the Civil War.
Hope this is not an intrusion 
5 Answers
I agree with Bridland. Homage to Catalonia.
It is a great book. Orwell is a great author. In a way it is a cross between an account of the events Orwell witnesse and a memoir. Littered throughout is information about Spain, the people and jokes. Though Orwell does make generalisations, he portrays Spaniards, as happy, unfortunate, very careless, but more importantly very friendly and always looking to show hospitality. (eg they randomly decide to divert a train to a different city half way into the journey, but then bring the train to a stop just to let him phone his wife).
One running joke is that the Spanish cant make guns very well, and cant shoot to save their lives. Every chapter has a line about him being shot at point blank, but his life saved by Spaniards poor accuracy. Even when his own side mistake him for an intruder, they still miss. The joke is on him in the end though, as Orwell does get shot eventually. The doctors all tell him "que suerte, que suerte" for surviving a shot clean through the neck, but with typical Orwell humour, he dismisses this by saying that he would have felt lucky, if the shot hadnt hit him in the first place.
To put it in context, Orwell was an author who decided that he believed in revolution so much, thath he put down his pen and picked up his gun, and went to fight, in a place where he had no recognition and was hence given a low rank. How many authors (or people of any proffesion) would be willing to do that today. It just doesnt happen. Well the person on whose name my is based has done similar things, and Salman Rushdie might be added to that list, but Orwell is in a league of his own.
This is i think the only time in world history (with the possible exception of Thucydides) that one of the greaters writers of all time, has been present at one of the most important events in history, and is able to write about from experience. For this reason Homage to Catalonia is the essential work for anyone who wants to know about the Spanich Civil War.
I am living in Spain, and it is true that the Spanish Civil War is a sticky subject.
From what I can tell, there were terrible atrocities committed on both sides. People tell me that living in the united Spain (with the Catalunyans and the Basques not wanting to be a part of the country) has been a little like going through a messy divorce and then having to share the same house with your spouse.
Thanks for the links. It's important to keep learning about this uncomfortable subject.
The authors he mentioned are all worthwhile. You might want to read Homage to Catalunya by George Orwell to get a contemporary feel. He was in the International Brigade. This wiki link is quite good link text
From an outsiders historical take, a significant point is that Spain was used as a rehearsal space by the Nazis and Mussolini to "practice" before the 2nd world war became a reality. It was a rehearsal space for Fascism, hence, Guernica.
Not an intrusion at all but information on what looks like an interesting, educating read. In my part of Spain they still talk about La Guerra Civil and Franco in hushed tones with furtive looks. It was a terrible time for the people - brother against brother, father against son. Thanks for the link.
Ese artículo es muy interesante. No sé mucho sobre la Guerra Civil. La mayoría aprendí por leer las obras de Hemingway y estudiando el cuadro, "Guernica" por Pablo Picasso. Tengo que leer más.
That article is very interesting. I don't know much about the Civil War. Most of it I learned by reading the works of Hemingway and studying the painting, "Guernica" by Pablo Picasso. I have to read some more.
