A military history of the Spanish Civil War from January 1937 onwards,
uncovering new evidence and overturning much of the received wisdom
about the conflict.
Spain in Arms is a military history of the Spanish Civil War. It
examines how the Spanish Civil War developed on the battlefield through
the prism of eight campaigns between 1937-1939 and shows how many
accounts of military operations during this conflict are based upon
half-truths and propaganda.
The book is based upon nearly 60 years of extensive research into the
Spanish Civil War, augmented by information from specialized German,
Italian and Russian works. The Italian campaign against the Basques on
the Northern Front in 1937 was one of the most spectacular Nationalist
successes of the Civil War, with 60,000 prisoners taken. This is also
the first book to quote secret data about Italian air operations
intercepted by the British. The figures intercepted by the British show
the Italians flew 1,215 sorties and dropped 231 tons of bombs during the
campaign, whilst also suffering the heaviest losses.
It also demonstrates how the Nationalists won not simply by benefitting
from a cornucopia of modern arms from the Fascist powers but by using
its limited resources to maximum effect. Spain in Arms reveals the
Nationalist battlefield superiority in terms of training and overall
command, and the Republic's corresponding weaknesses in the same fields.
The Republican Brunete and Belchite offensives of 1937 are described in
detail, from the weapons they carried and the tactics they employed to
the dynamic Nationalist response and reaction of the generals. This book
also explores how the extent of foreign intervention on both sides has
been greatly exaggerated throughout history and provides the first
accurate information on this military intervention, using British and
French archives to produce a radically different but more accurate
account of the battles and the factors and men who shaped them.
Hooton finally gives the historical context and operational implications
of the battlefield events to provide a link between the First and Second
World Wars.
