The Battle For Spain
I recently read Antony Beevor’s The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939. It’s a worthwhile read for anyone interested in this period of history. It brings together the political, military, and social history of the war and places it in context with the era’s European politics. This is a complex task, and Beevor succeeds. Helpful maps and pictures are included.
The Battle For Spain includes the roles of the Durruti Column and the CNT-FAI, but since they are woven into the rest of narrative, this might not be the best book for a specifically anarchist study. It certainly will provide a solid basis for understanding the war. The only objection to the work I can think of at the moment is that people new to the history might have trouble keeping up with the acronyms and names, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to remember their context.
