British Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War: The British Battalion in the International Brigade, 1936-1939 (Routledge Canada Blanch Studies on Contemporary Spain)

✍ Scribed by Richard Baxell

• Year: 2004
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 236
• Edition: New edition
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

During the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939 almost 2,500 men and women left Britain to fight for the Spanish Republic. This book examines the role, experiences and contribution of the volunteers who fought in the British Battalion of the 15 International Brigadesasking: * Who were these volunteers? * Where did they come from? * Why did they go to Spain? * How much did they actually help the Spanish Republic? In contrast to recent revisionist interpretations, this work stresses the crucial importance of the war experience itself, rather than political ideology, in the understanding of the volunteers' role and experiences within the Spanish war. This book will be of essential interest to historians and those interested in the Spanish Civil War.

✦ Table of Contents

Book Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 4
Contents......Page 5
List of plates......Page 9
List of figures......Page 10
List of maps......Page 11
List of tables......Page 12
Acknowledgements......Page 13
List of abbreviations......Page 14
Introduction......Page 16
Who were the British volunteers?......Page 23
Why did they go?......Page 40
Madrid, 1936: manning the Spanish barricades......Page 62
Cerca de Madrid, 1937: the battle of Jarama and 'the furnace of Brunete'......Page 81
Into Aragon, 1937 1938: Teruel, 'the great retreat' and the Ebro offensive......Page 102
Prisoners of war......Page 124
British volunteers for liberty or Comintern army?......Page 145
Commanders of the British Battalion......Page 165
Political commissars of the British Battalion......Page 166
Notes......Page 167
References and bibliography......Page 216
Index......Page 226