What do you think?
Rate this book
Zaragoza Bound: A Chronicle of the Durruti Column
The first English-language book dedicated to the story of the Durruti Column during the Spanish Civil War.
On July 24, 1936, one week after the Spanish working class took up arms against General Franco's fascist coup, an armed column—comprised primarily of partisans from the CNT, the anarchist trade union—left Barcelona. Leading this militia was José Buenaventura Durruti, the most famous anarchist in Spain. A week prior, Durruti and his compatriots had participated in the street fighting that temporarily defeated the military uprising. Now they were heading to Zaragoza, an important CNT stronghold whose liberation would represent a decisive advance for the war and the revolution. On the way, the Column would help establish free communes outside the control of the brittle Republic, while confronting the fascist advance.
The six thousand members of the column were organized without traditional military hierarchy, thus establishing a true anarchist military formation based on solidarity and common purpose. Zaragoza Bound chronicles the column’s battles, membership, and organization. From its creation to its dissolution and integration into the Popular Army of the Republic in 1937, heroic episodes of the Column are recounted without shying away from hardship and controversies.
On July 24, 1936, one week after the Spanish working class took up arms against General Franco's fascist coup, an armed column—comprised primarily of partisans from the CNT, the anarchist trade union—left Barcelona. Leading this militia was José Buenaventura Durruti, the most famous anarchist in Spain. A week prior, Durruti and his compatriots had participated in the street fighting that temporarily defeated the military uprising. Now they were heading to Zaragoza, an important CNT stronghold whose liberation would represent a decisive advance for the war and the revolution. On the way, the Column would help establish free communes outside the control of the brittle Republic, while confronting the fascist advance.
The six thousand members of the column were organized without traditional military hierarchy, thus establishing a true anarchist military formation based on solidarity and common purpose. Zaragoza Bound chronicles the column’s battles, membership, and organization. From its creation to its dissolution and integration into the Popular Army of the Republic in 1937, heroic episodes of the Column are recounted without shying away from hardship and controversies.
224 pages, Paperback
Published October 21, 2025
39 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 10, 2026
I think it was a really excellent telling of how anarcho-communism struggles when it comes to waging war, genuinely organizing in times of crisis, or self defense. Time and time again they tried to maintain non hierarchical democratic structures, and over and over eventually had to reinvent the wheel to form some manner of organizational discipline and authority when it came to fighting discipline, logistics, etc, before losing momentum and crumbling. The magic moment of ‘spontaneity’ never arrived that caused class consciousness and caused people to rise up and be inspired by their conscience to act together. Humbling stuff.
Displaying 1 of 1 review