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I Am Spain: The Spanish Civil War and the Foreigners Who Went to Fight Fascism
George Orwell, Ernest Hemingway, Martha Gellhorn, Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, John Dos Passos, Felicia Browne, John Cornford, Stephen Spender... These were just some of the talented, committed and adventure-hungry men and women who travelled to Spain to join the struggle against General Franco's fascist rebellion.
Through their personal letters, diaries and memoirs, David Boyd Haycock brings the experiences of these remarkable individuals -- as well as many less celebrated but equally compelling figures -- stunningly to life. He describes the mingled excitement and trepidation with which they set out for Spain, and their sheer relief that here at last was a chance to do something against the calamitous threat posed by Fascism. He evokes the glamour and the terror of wartime Barcelona, as Stalin's security forces lethally stifled dissent and imposed Party orthodoxy. And he charts the painful disillusionment of a generation of men and women as they witnessed the triumph of realpolitik over morality, and came to understand their impotence in the face of greater forces.
Hemingway described the Spanish Civil War as 'the dress rehearsal for the inevitable European war'. I am Spain is at once a compelling, scrupulously researched account of this pivotal 20th-century conflict, and a moving, psychologically exact portrait of an extraordinary, passionate and gifted group of men and women whose minds and lives were changed by the experience of war.
Through their personal letters, diaries and memoirs, David Boyd Haycock brings the experiences of these remarkable individuals -- as well as many less celebrated but equally compelling figures -- stunningly to life. He describes the mingled excitement and trepidation with which they set out for Spain, and their sheer relief that here at last was a chance to do something against the calamitous threat posed by Fascism. He evokes the glamour and the terror of wartime Barcelona, as Stalin's security forces lethally stifled dissent and imposed Party orthodoxy. And he charts the painful disillusionment of a generation of men and women as they witnessed the triumph of realpolitik over morality, and came to understand their impotence in the face of greater forces.
Hemingway described the Spanish Civil War as 'the dress rehearsal for the inevitable European war'. I am Spain is at once a compelling, scrupulously researched account of this pivotal 20th-century conflict, and a moving, psychologically exact portrait of an extraordinary, passionate and gifted group of men and women whose minds and lives were changed by the experience of war.
380 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 25, 2014
"I Am Spain" is a wonderful book with which to establish a broader knowledge of the Spanish Civil War from the perspective of a relative newcomer.
My only dip into the subject up till now was with George Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia", and this title helps fill in a much wider gap in my knowledge.
At times, as some of the blurb mentions, it does seem that every journalist and would be author alive in the thirties made it their mission to flood to Spain upon the outbreak of the civil war. It must be said this story is told from the perspective of the the republican cause, something that seems to be mostly the case with this historical period, in spite of the fact that eventually the Fascists defeated them. An unusual bucking of the trend of history being written by the victors, it seems.
Perhaps unsurprisingly as an Englishman, I did come away from this book thinking Ernest Hemingway was, frankly, an arse. His political naivety is shocking and his abusive attitude to the British volunteers, as well to many of his American compatriots is shocking. The only thing apparently bigger than his fame, was his ego, but that aside, this book is fascinating. It will certainly draw me to further reading on the subject.
My only dip into the subject up till now was with George Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia", and this title helps fill in a much wider gap in my knowledge.
At times, as some of the blurb mentions, it does seem that every journalist and would be author alive in the thirties made it their mission to flood to Spain upon the outbreak of the civil war. It must be said this story is told from the perspective of the the republican cause, something that seems to be mostly the case with this historical period, in spite of the fact that eventually the Fascists defeated them. An unusual bucking of the trend of history being written by the victors, it seems.
Perhaps unsurprisingly as an Englishman, I did come away from this book thinking Ernest Hemingway was, frankly, an arse. His political naivety is shocking and his abusive attitude to the British volunteers, as well to many of his American compatriots is shocking. The only thing apparently bigger than his fame, was his ego, but that aside, this book is fascinating. It will certainly draw me to further reading on the subject.
November 29, 2022
I like this book, but I feel I Am Spain can be a bit dense. Furthermore, in my opinion, it also focuses a bit too much on Hemingway and Orwell two famous authors who fought for the republicans in the Spanish civil war.
December 8, 2022
Una vision excepcional del conflicto civil español del 36. Tratado magistralmente desde el testimonio en primera persona de aquellos que debieron aprenderlo todo de este pais, de la política local y la geopolíticas de la época. Imprescindible para aquellos lectores interesados en los acontecimientos de este periodo de la historia reciente de España. Unos hechos que marcaría no solo a la generaciones de españoles si no también a la de aquellos que se involucraron desde todas partes del mundo, it wasn’t the kind of nightmare you can ever wake up from.«The nightmare went along with us, back to Paris, back to the States. It’s a nightmare you have to learn to live with all day and every day.’»
April 5, 2014
"I Am Spain" is a wonderful book with which to establish a broader knowledge of the Spanish Civil War from the perspective of a relative newcomer.
My only dip into the subject up till now was with George Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia", and this title helps fill in a much wider gap in my knowledge.
At times, as some of the blurb mentions, it does seem that every journalist and would be author alive in the thirties made it their mission to flood to Spain upon the outbreak of the civil war. It must be said this story is told from the perspective of the the republican cause, something that seems to be mostly the case with this historical period, in spite of the fact that eventually the Fascists defeated them. An unusual bucking of the trend of history being written by the victors, it seems.
Perhaps unsurprisingly as an Englishman, I did come away from this book thinking Ernest Hemingway was, frankly, an arse. His political naivety is shocking and his abusive attitude to the British volunteers, as well to many of his American compatriots is shocking. The only thing apparently bigger than his fame, was his ego, but that aside, this book is fascinating. It will certainly draw me to further reading on the subject.
My only dip into the subject up till now was with George Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia", and this title helps fill in a much wider gap in my knowledge.
At times, as some of the blurb mentions, it does seem that every journalist and would be author alive in the thirties made it their mission to flood to Spain upon the outbreak of the civil war. It must be said this story is told from the perspective of the the republican cause, something that seems to be mostly the case with this historical period, in spite of the fact that eventually the Fascists defeated them. An unusual bucking of the trend of history being written by the victors, it seems.
Perhaps unsurprisingly as an Englishman, I did come away from this book thinking Ernest Hemingway was, frankly, an arse. His political naivety is shocking and his abusive attitude to the British volunteers, as well to many of his American compatriots is shocking. The only thing apparently bigger than his fame, was his ego, but that aside, this book is fascinating. It will certainly draw me to further reading on the subject.
November 30, 2014
A wonderfully clear and readable account of the Spanish Civil War. The history is related from the point of view of the International Brigades, often focusing in on the experiences of writers such as Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell, John Cornford, and Alvah Bessie, which allows for both personal accounts of the horror, chaos and camaraderie as well as a broader view of the international power politics that dictated the reactions of the rest of Europe and America. In placing the Spanish conflict centre stage, we are offered a new angle on the events leading up to the Second World War, and encouraged to speculate - what if Britain, France or America had intervened? The complexity of the political relationships among the Republicans and the obscure motives of Soviet Russia in her involvement in Spain are well described though still ultimately as unanswerable today as they were to those fighting; what emerges at the end is the dreadful power of propaganda - outright lies (such as the denial of Nazi involvement in Guernica) dictating the outcome of a deeply human, and in some ways futile, tragedy.
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January 1, 2014 " Boyd Haycock's follow-up to 'A Crisis of Brilliance' is another group biography, this time focusing on the non-Spaniards who went to fight for the Republic in the Spanish Civil War. Reading the stories of these people, some famous, some obscure, who formed the International Brigade makes it clear how much the Spanish war fore-shadowed the greater conflict to come.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews