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The International Brigades: Fascism, Freedom and the Spanish Civil War

The International Brigades: Fascism, Freedom and the Spanish Civil War

by Giles Tremlett

Bloomsbury Publishing ·2020 ·720 pages
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About This Book

The Spanish Civil War was the first armed battle in the fight against fascism, and a rallying cry for a generation. Over 35,000 volunteers from fifty-two countries around the world came to defend democracy against the troops of Franco, Hitler, and Mussolini. Ill-equipped and disorderly, yet fueled by a shared sense of purpose and potential glory, disparate groups of idealistic young men and women banded together to form a volunteer army of a size and kind unseen since the Crusades, known as the International Brigades. These passionate liberal fighters-from across Europe, China, Africa and the Americas-would join the Republican cause, fighting for over two years on the bloody battlegrounds of Madrid, Jarama and Ebro. Were they heroes or fools? Saints or bloodthirsty adventurers? And what exactly did they achieve? In this magisterial history, award-winning historian Giles Tremlett tells-for the first time-the story of the Spanish Civil War through all the human drama of an historic mission to halt fascist expansion in Europe. The International Brigades shows just how far ordinary people will go to save democracy against overwhelming odds.


Reviews

"Tremlett, a skilled researcher and solid writer who has lived in Spain for two decades, delivers a fine history ..."

Kirkus Read review ↗ Near the Top

"[A] sweeping and brilliant new history of the International Brigades ..."

Christopher Kissane· The Irish Times Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"The book is at its best when telling the unvarnished stories of the individuals drawn to the republican cause ..."

Paul Mason· The Guardian Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Tremlett has organized his enormous book chronologically, so that each skirmish and battle where the volunteers were present is documented, and rich details are provided through a combination of first-hand witness and participant accounts, newspaper articles, and secondary sources."

Lorraine Berry· The Boston Globe Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"A highly readable, monumental account of the idealism and suffering of the most international army ever assembled since the Crusades."

Joseph Barbato· The New York Journal of Books Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

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