The Spanish Civil War, a military rebellion supported by Hitler and
Mussolini, attracted the greatest writers of the age. Among them
were Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell, Andre Malraux, Arthur
Koestler, Langston Hughes, and Martha Gellhorn. They returned to
their homelands to warn the world about a war of fascist aggression
looming on the horizon. Spain's cause drew 35,000 volunteers from
52 countries, including 2,800 Americans who formed the Abraham
Lincoln Brigade. Eight hundred Americans lost their lives. Of them,
Hemingway wrote, "no men entered earth more honourably than those
who died in Spain." Writers and soldiers alike saw Spain as the
first battlefield of World War II. In the title essay of this book,
historian Peter N. Carroll traces the war's legacy, from the
shocking bombing of the Basque town of Guernica by German and
Italian air forces to the attacks on civilians and displacement of
refugees in later wars. Carroll's work focuses on both the personal
and political motives that led seemingly ordinary Americans to risk
their lives in a foreign war. Based on extensive oral histories of
surviving veterans and original archival work-including material in
the once-secret Moscow archives-the essays, some never before
published, present forty years of scholarship. A portrait of three
American women illustrates the growing awareness of a fascist
threat to our home front. Other pieces examine the role of
ethnicity, race, and religion in prompting Americans to set off for
war. Carroll also examines the lives of war survivors. Novelist
Alvah Bessie became a screenwriter and emerged as one of the
blacklisted "Hollywood Ten." Ralph Fasanella went from union
organizing to becoming one of the country's significant "outsider"
painters. Hank Rubin won fame as a food connoisseur and wine
columnist. And one volunteer, the African American Sgt. Edward
Carter, earned a Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroism in
World War II. Most famously, Ernest Hemingway wrote For Whom the
Bell Tolls. His sharp criticism of the film version of the novel,
in a series of private letters published here for the first time in
book form, reveals his deep commitment to the antifascist cause.
For those who witnessed the war in Spain, the defeat of democracy
remained, in the words of Albert Camus, "a wound in the heart."
From Guernica to Human Rights is essential reading for anyone
interested in the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
