Paul Preston, Professor of Iberian History at LSE, has brought his
encyclopaedic knowledge of Spain and the Spanish Civil War to bear
on this unusual biographical work about four women who all took an
active part in that devastating conflict. He chose two staunch
Republicans, and two on the Francoist side, all totally dedicated
to their cause. Their stories are largely forgotten but he has
brought them to life, and illuminated their times, using an
impressive number of diaries, letters and contemporary documents.
These women never met but they all not only experienced the horrors
and bereavements of the war but also suffered in different ways
from the suppression of women in Spanish male-dominated society.
They were also linked by their courage and initiative and by the
terrible emotional cost of the war in their lives. Two of the women
were English, fighting on opposite sides: Nan Green, a Communist,
who joined her husband in the International Brigades, and Priscilla
Scott-Ellis, a socialite who soon came down to earth working in the
frontline hospitals. Mercedes Sanz-Bachiller was the widow of a
Falangist, and threw herself into welfare work on a wide scale,
which soon made her a very powerful woman in the Francoist zone.
Perhaps the most interesting, talented and unusual woman of the
four was Margarita Nelken, a revolutionary feminist, writer and
Socialist Member of Parliament representing poverty-stricken rural
labourers before the war began. She worked tirelessly, and when
Madrid was besieged, she battled on many fronts, especially in the
Union of Anti-Fascist Women. Finally the victorious Francoists
sought their revenge and she had to flee into exile with so many
others, with all her hopes crushed. The shadow of the war hung over
the rest of all their lives. This is a brilliant study of one of
the 20th century's most brutal conflicts, filtered through the
experiences of four exceptional women. (Kirkus UK)
'Four extraordinary women whose personal histories should dispel any illusions that the Spanish Civil War was an all-male war…The book is full of wonderful stories and acute observations. But above all, these are compelling human dramas in which moral issues, right and wrong, Fascism and Communism melt away.' 'Sunday Telegraph'
The Aristocrat: PIP SCOTT-ELLIS fell in love with a Spanish prince and set off for Madrid in a chauffeur-driven limousine. She ended up nursing in front-line Francoist hospitals.
The Communist: NAN GREEN, by contrast, travelled to war third class. Leaving her children behind in England, she went to fight for the International Brigade.
The Intellectual: MARGARITA NELKEN was an art critic and novelist, who had translated Kafka into Spanish. Denounced as a whore by the Catholic Right, she became a radical politician.
The Fascist: After her husband was killed in the fighting and miscarrying on hearing the news, MERCEDES SANZ-BACHILLER set up a welfare organisation that was to change the face of Spain.
'Preston has harnessed biography to serve history by vividly telling the stories of four very different women whose lives were starkly altered by the conflict…'Doves of War' is significant, tragic and remarkable.'
'Irish Times'
'Passionate and deeply moving…when Preston writes about these women, you feel as if you are in their company.'
'Scotland on Sunday'
'A considerable achievement…Newcomers to the Spanish conflict could hardly find a better place to start.'
'Sunday Times'
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