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3rd out of 6 books
—
3 voters
The Spanish Holocaust: Inquisition and Extermination in Twentieth-Century Spain
by
Paul Preston
The remains of General Francisco Franco lie in an immense mausoleum near Madrid, built with the blood and sweat of twenty thousand slave laborers. His enemies, however, met less-exalted fates. Besides those killed on the battlefield, tens of thousands were officially executed between 1936 and 1945, and as many again became "non-persons." As Spain finally reclaims its histo...more
Hardcover, 720 pages
Published
April 16th 2012
by W. W. Norton & Company
(first published April 3rd 2011)
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I'm afraid I gave up on this. The reason? Its just the writing style. It is so dense and hard to get around and get a good bite at it. And believe me I really wanted to read this book. Having read 'Blood of Spain' and Beevor's book on the Spanish Civil War I felt ready for this. But its just not written in a reader friendly way. Its just one after one after one incident - its 120 pages till you get up to the coup. I thought the style might change after that but it doesn't - if anything it gets e...more
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Si tiene algúna pregunta sobre la violencia durante la guerra civil, es el libro que te puede satisfacer. Es bastante pesado, duro, leerlo, con 678 paginas, pero vale la pena para saber la verdad. Y la verdad de la guerra es horrorifico. Si, habia violencia por todos lados, pero al fin y al fondo, los facistas fueron los peores, alcanzando hasta 7 asasinatos para cada uno de los asesinatos del lado opuesto (varios lados entre si: Republicanos burgeses, democratas, comunistas independientes, comu...more
The author of this 700+ page history of the Spanish civil war is the foremost scholar of Spanish history in the U.K. This book is not easy reading, in more than one sense. First, the writing is dense and chapters go on and on forever in unrelieved narrative for 40-50 pages. My eyes simply got tired reading more than 15 pages in a sitting. The editors at Harper should have advised him to make his text a bit more readable. Second, the book presumes that the reader knows as much about Spanish histo...more
Magnífic assaig sobre el genocidi i la barbàrie perpetrada sobre tot pel bàndol rebel de la guerra civil (els que la història dels vencedors anomenava "nacionals"). L'autor fa una distinció molt clara entre l'abast, la motivació i l'origen de les matances d'ambdós bàndols. Els rebels tenien el genocidi planificat des de molt abans del "levantamiento" i el van executar d'una forma que recorda els pitjors holocausts de la història moderna (Alemanya, els Balcans, Àfrica...), sota els auspicis dels...more
Dit is geen boek,dat je in een avond uitleest. Het onderwerp is gruwelijk. Het komt neer op een opsomming van alle gruweldaden, die zijn gepleegd in de spaanse Burgeroorlog en wel door beide kanten. Daarbij winnen de rebellen (onder Franco) het dik van de andere kant, maar toch.. Ook daar ging men goed te keer. Het boek maakt meteen een einde aan alle romantische ideen die je mocht hebben over de anarchisten en de internationale brigades, die aan de kant van de republiek vochten. Vooral de commu...more
Miedo de la clase obrera a perder lo poco que se había conseguido durante la República; terror de la burguesía y los terratenientes ante la posibilidad de vivir en una sociedad más igualitaria y tener que compartir parte de su riqueza; pánico de todos ante los juicios sumarísimos, las torturas, las violaciones... Miedo, terror y pánico, eso refleja el libro de Preston y eso vivió la sociedad española, lo que la convirtió en un verdadero infierno desde mediados de los 30 hasta los años 80.
La tesi...more
La tesi...more
An unremittingly brutal no holds barred account of atrocities of this dark and morbidly compelling conflict.
In truth it is remarkable that Spain is the country it is today in spite of all this.
Prestons account as many others have said is very detailed , painstakingly researched and referenced one of the side effects of this however is that is on occasion somewhat turgid as a result. In spite of this I could not stop till I got to the end. Although the narrative is to a degree sacrificed for acc...more
In truth it is remarkable that Spain is the country it is today in spite of all this.
Prestons account as many others have said is very detailed , painstakingly researched and referenced one of the side effects of this however is that is on occasion somewhat turgid as a result. In spite of this I could not stop till I got to the end. Although the narrative is to a degree sacrificed for acc...more
First let me address the title of this book “The Spanish Holocaust”, the use of this word was in my opinion a mistake on the part of the author, no matter how hard he tried to justify its use in the prologue, me thinks he tried to hard, or as the case may be not hard enough in finding a suitable title for his word. The use of the word “Holocaust” evokes a whole different dimension to the terror, violence and ultimate death perpetrated on the Jewish race, its use has become to common place, sensa...more
A very detailed and well-documented book about what is usually called "the most bloody civil war". The author begins by relating the horrors that the "rebels", Franco and his right wing allies, had done . But when we read what the other party, the Republicans", did, we see what civil war is all about. The massacres were usual in both sides, with a vengeance that is strange among citizens of the same blood. And when Franco won the war, it is the dictum " woe to the vanquished!
Now, after democracy...more
Now, after democracy...more
The remains of General Francisco Franco lie in an immense mausoleum near Madrid, built with the blood and sweat of twenty thousand slave laborers. His enemies, however, met less-exalted fates. Besides those killed on the battlefield, tens of thousands were officially executed between 1936 and 1945, and as many again became "non-persons." As Spain finally reclaims its historical memory, a full picture can now be given of the Spanish Holocaust-ranging from judicial murders to the abuse of women an...more
This book is really important in trying to come to terms with the Spanish Civil War but it is painful to read. I have always thought that that war was a tragic defeat for the forces of progress and civilisation but this book makes that defeat seem even more depressing as it uncovers the true brutality of the opposing factions. Before the war, traditional forces of conservatism in Spain were implacable in their determination to crush any glimpses of progress so they forced the left into even more...more
The term 'holocaust' is one contentious, reserved solely now for the gravest of atrocities (with hyperbole notwithstanding). Although on a slightly smaller scale, Preston makes the assertion that the killings of the Spanish Civil War, and later the Franco regime, are systemic and deliberate in nature, comparable to Hitler or Stalin.
Spain, currently struggling with economic woes, still has some of the remnants and nightmares of the last Fascist regime in Europe. Only in the last ten years have st...more
Spain, currently struggling with economic woes, still has some of the remnants and nightmares of the last Fascist regime in Europe. Only in the last ten years have st...more
A comprehensive account of a little talked about but significant European event. I thought that this text was aimed at the general reader but it's focus is academic. Consequently it was in places a difficult read for me, in places this was compounded by the rather dense prose. This meant that it took quite a while to finish. It taught me much about the Spanish civil war so it was worth the slog. A prodigious amount of research undrepins Paul Preston's account.
This is an extremely painful book to read. However, it is a book that needs to be read in order to understand the scale of the cruelty that occurred during the war and for many years after. It is a chilling read for anyone who has ever been a member of a trade union, a freethinker, a democrat or married to one. It helps explain the years of silence and indeed the fragility of democracy in the post Franco era. It will leave a mark on you as I am sure the recording and the writing of it must have...more
Reviewed by The Independent (2 Mar 2012), The Guardian (9 Mar 2012)
A very long list of the atrocities committed by the rebel forces under Franco and to a much lesser extent by the Republican State that the rebels eventually overthrew. Very damning account of the almost unbelievable brutality used to inspire terror in the civilian populace and later to cleanse the country of republican sympathizers.
An encyclopedic history of repression during the Spanish Civil War. Preston's book reads like exhaustive background material for a new Tarantino film, documenting the brutal actions of Franco and the Fascist generals against citizens, from village laborers to urban agitators.
Incredibly depressing tale of the brutality of the Spanish Civil War. Worth reading for a reminder of 'man's inhumanity to man'as well as the tragedy of those courageous enough to stand up to blind class hatred and warped beliefs.
A lot of the world thinks of Hitler as the greatest murderer in the 20th Century. Take nothing away from the Holocaust but the Spanish Civil War and the purges by Stalin may surpass. If you like history this is a good book.
As with other books by Paul Preston, it is best read as what a Republican participant might have written about events, had he on hand the information that Preston does. It would be nice if he could let facts speak for themselves. And it really strains his credibility to attempt to dismiss every Republican atrocity as being somehow provoked by Nationalists.
A very dense and detailed account of the atrocities committed on both sides of the bloody Spanish Civil War. As Preston showed, Franco had far more blood on his hands than the anarchists and Communists had in the Republican controlled zones, and his treatment on the Nationalists' attempt to rewrite history after the War was especially illuminating. I found the last few chapters, the end of the War and the post-War period, to be the most interesting, as they recounted the fates of prominent Repub...more
A very harrowing account of the violence and repression endured by the civilian population before, during and after the Spanish Civil War. Rich in detail and extraordinarily well documented, this book is surely one of the most important reports on the topic. It challenges a widely held perception in Spain, that there was an equal amount of murderous intent in the actions of both sides during the war, with hard facts and numbers. Fabulous, yet sometimes difficult, read.
An encyclopedic listing of atrocities committed during the Spanish Civil War. Much to be learned in this volume.
Learning more about the Spanish Civil War, Franco's atrocities, and the 40 year Fascist government he created out of the blood of his own people is a primer to understanding why and how we arrived at this historical and geopolitical place in time. Preston's book is thorough and well researched.
Nov 05, 2012
Yiyuk Alatorre
added it
Serious stuff. The Death spirit in this book is intense. A book to read a little at a time.
Paul Preston reúne en este libro, gracias a la ayuda de historiadores locales, una ingente cantidad de información sobre la guerra civil española, tanto a nivel local como nacional. Una obra imprescindible y muy actualizada.
Gut-wrenching, raw narrative.
Very good thorough book that is written very blandly. The narrative makes it hard to get into but the raw content is excellent.
Oct 15, 2012
Juneko
marked it as to-read
I'm about 2/3 of the way through this massive tome.
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Paul Preston, author of Franco and Juan Carlos, holds the Príncipe de Asturias Chair of Contemporary Spanish History at the London School of Economics. He lives in London.
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