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A review by jackrb
The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 by Antony Beevor
3.0
An detailed account of the Spanish Civil War, with a little before and after, explaining some key events of how the Civil War came to be and its immediate outcome.
I came into the book knowing not a whole lot about the Civil War, beyond a very surface-level knowledge of there being many political factions and being seen as a "warmup" for WW2.
It serves as a good overview of the conflict, the causes, the ebbs and flows of the fronts and important factions within the Nationalists and Republicans. There are some key insights, mainly detailing why the Nationalists beat the Republicans (which is then repeatedly demonstrated during the course of the war), the seeming inevitability and the general inhumanity and brutality of the war.
The obvious leaning towards recounting battles and general military history is, while interesting in its own right, doesn't do a whole lot for me, and the narrative can be a little fractured at times, due to Beevor having to pick and choose what aspects to focus on, with there being far too many events to simply recount straightforwardly.
I came into the book knowing not a whole lot about the Civil War, beyond a very surface-level knowledge of there being many political factions and being seen as a "warmup" for WW2.
It serves as a good overview of the conflict, the causes, the ebbs and flows of the fronts and important factions within the Nationalists and Republicans. There are some key insights, mainly detailing why the Nationalists beat the Republicans (which is then repeatedly demonstrated during the course of the war), the seeming inevitability and the general inhumanity and brutality of the war.
The obvious leaning towards recounting battles and general military history is, while interesting in its own right, doesn't do a whole lot for me, and the narrative can be a little fractured at times, due to Beevor having to pick and choose what aspects to focus on, with there being far too many events to simply recount straightforwardly.