"Mr. Thomas has understood [the Spanish Civil War] incredibly well
and has written it superbly. A full, vivid and deeply serious treatment
of a great subject."--Vincent Sheean, The New York Times Book Review
A masterpiece of the historian's art, Hugh Thomas's The Spanish Civil
War remains the best, most engrossing narrative of one of the most
emblematic and misunderstood wars of the twentieth century. Revised and
updated with significant new material, including new revelations about
atrocities perpetrated against civilians by both sides in this epic
conflict, this "definitive work on the subject" (Richard
Bernstein, The New York Times) has been given a fresh face forty years
after its initial publication in 1961. In brilliant, moving detail,
Thomas analyzes a devastating conflict in which the hopes, dreams, and
dogmas of a century exploded onto the battlefield. Like no other
account, The Spanish Civil War dramatically reassembles the events
that led a European nation, in a continent on the brink of world war, to
divide against itself, bringing into play the machinations of Franco and
Hitler, the bloodshed of Guernica, and the deeply inspiring heroics of
those who rallied to the side of democracy. Communists, anarchists,
monarchists, fascists, socialists, democrats -- the various forces of
the Spanish Civil War composed a fabric of the twentieth century itself,
and Thomas masterfully weaves the diffuse and fascinating threads of the
war together in a manner that has established the book as a genuine
classic of modern history.
"Stands without rivals as the most balanced and comprehensive book on
the subject."--American Historical Review
