The Battle for Spain by Anthony Beevor
Over 20 years ago Anthony Beevor wrote ‘The Spanish Civil War’, his first work of non-fiction to be published. On the 70th anniversary of the commencement of the conflict the bestselling author of ‘Stalingrad’ and ‘Berlin: the Downfall’ revisits and revises his earlier work. In the intervening years a mass of new documentary evidence has surfaced from the Spanish, German and Russian Archives. These rich seams of primary source material have enabled Beevor to produce a substantially rewritten account of that most uncivil of civil wars.
Characterised by atrocities on both sides and bitter infighting between the different poitical and regional factions, the Spanish Civil War became a rallying point for international resistance to the rise of European fascism. The conflict began with a Coup d’etat in July 1936 and concluded in 1939 in defeat for the Republican cause as General Franco seized power. The three-year Civil War has resonated resoundingly through our common European culture - many of the events and characters have become iconic; the German bombing of Guernica, the murder of Federico Garcia Lorca, the actions and writings of George Orwell, Laurie Lee and the other International Volunteers, Robert Capa’s photograph of the Loyalist soldier framed at the very moment of bullet-impact.
The Spanish edition of Anthony Beevor’s ‘The Battle for Spain’ has topped the bestseller lists for more than three months already and will no doubt replicate its success over here. Beevor has crafted another 500 page definitive account of a history making conflict, a sure fire bestseller for the summer – and beyond.
Sex with the Queen by Eleanor Herman
Bed fellow to last year’s ‘Sex with Kings’ this companion volume from Eleanor Herman flings back the sheets to reveal the corporeal couplings and machiavellian love-making of Queens over a millenium. This frothy and frisky right royal romp has a colourful cast including Anne Boleyn, Katherine the Great and Marie Antionette. In the final analysis Herman shows that it was not the bed-hopping that determined the fates of queens but rather the realpolitik of European court intrigues – on occasion infidelities were tolerated and even encouraged if power was at stake.
Germany 1944 British Soldier’s Pocketbook
This soldier’s pocketbook from 1944, and the tale of its creation, reveal a fascinating moment of history: a snapshot of prejudices, expectations and fears. It was created in conditions of secrecy to prepare British and Allied soldiers for entering and occupying Germany – but at a time when victory was not assured.
Part practical guide, part everyman’s history of the German people, part propaganda tool, it shows how the Allied civilian and military command wanted to condition the ordinary serviceman’s thoughts about what he would encounter. Today’s reader will find opinionated comment and crude stereotype, but also insights and humour – much unintentional. This pocketbook reveals as much about the mindset of the British as it does about the German nation. This is a wonderful piece of real – if not surreal – history; the ‘Worst Case Scenario Survival Guide – Invasion’ crossed with a Baedeker.
Gangs of Liverpool by Michael Macilwee
With a conscious nod of acknowledgement in look and feel to Herbert Asbury’s ‘Gangs of New York’, Liverpudlian academic Michael Macilwee has chronicled the exploits of the numerous street gangs terrorising Liverpool from the 1870s. The slums that festered in the shadows of one of the worlds greatest and most prosperous seaports bred the likes of ‘The High Rip Gang’, ‘The Dead Rabbits’, the ‘Hibernians’ and also juvenile copycat mobs of street urchins such as ‘The Housebreakers’ and ‘The Lemon Street Gang’. The best advice to give a visitor to Liverpool city centre at the end of the 19th Century was: ‘Never walk alone’.
BOOK OF THE MONTH - May
12 Books that Changed the World – by Melvyn Bragg
Lord Bragg of Wigton has penned a bibliophile’s book of books to accompany the ITV series ‘Twelve Books that Changed the World’. As befits a liberal minded – even egalitarian minded – lover of books Bragg states that great economic, social, personal and political change has come about through the power of the book.
Nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come and books are nothing if not the concrete form for ideas. Bragg presents a blend of the obvious and the idiosynchratic amongst a representative selection of printed ideas ranging through Science, Society, Law, Leisure, Industry, Literature and Religion.
Few would argue against the influence of Newton’s ‘Principia Mathematica’, Darwin’s ‘Origin of the Species’ nor Faraday’s ‘Experimental Researches into Electricity’, nor against their inclusion in Bragg’s list. Having previously published a history of science Melvyn Bragg is well qualified to document these lives and elucidate their works. In a style symbiotic with his Radio and TV broadcasting skills he writes clearly but unpatronisingly, often allowing others with more specific knowledge to contribute.
Other non-contraversial books in the list include Shakespeare’s First Folio and William Tyndale’s Bible – the King James Version. Shakespeare has to carry the baton for all works of fiction as no novels, poetry collections or other plays are included. This still leaves seven books with which we can have great fun taking issue with Bragg’s selection.
The first contentious point arises from his liberal definition of what constitutes a book; The ‘Magna Carta’ was inscribed on a calf-skin and is just 63 clauses long, ‘The Abolition of the Slave Trade’ was a four hour speech to Parliament by William Wilberforce, and Arkwright’s ‘Patent for Spinning Machine’ is a mere three pages. ‘The Rule Book of Association Football’ was knocked up one afternoon by a group of ex-public schoolboys in a pub, was 13 clauses long and Bragg’s reproduction covers barely two pages.
In defence the ‘book’ form was not readily available in the 13th Century when Magna Carter was inscribed and Wilberforce’s speech was reproduced in print immediately. Bragg can also seek refuge in the modern multi-media environment where ‘books’ can be downloaded and read off the screen, listened to in audio formats, and created and consumed as blogs or podcasts. The point with this selection is not the form but the potency of the content.
And the content was potent; the fundamental right of the individual was enshrined in law, the Atlantic Slave Trade was abolished (eventually), the factory system of production was introduced, and the game of football was codified to become the greatest mass leisure pre-occupation in the world – 8 out 10 people on the planet are expected to see some of the 2006 World Cup.
There are two books on Bragg’s list that deal with attitudes in society; Mary Wollstonecraft’s ‘Vindication of the Rights of Women’ (1792) and Marie Stopes’ ‘Married Love’ (1918). These two authors met with contrasting fortunes on publication; Wollstonecraft was villified for decades while Stopes had immediate success and impact - no doubt in part due to the ground prepared by the earlier writer.
The last work is Adam smith’s ‘Wealth of Nations’ – a hugely influential book on publication in 1776 which has had a resurgent popularity through the economic theorists Milton Friedman and Von Hayek, the economic policies of Reagan and Thatcher, and the emergent super economies of China and India. If all other books on the list have provoked change in the world for the better, Smith’s is far more contentious – rampant, unfettered capitalism has a lot of losers as well as winners.
Melvyn Bragg entertains as well as informs with his lively, provocative and accessible personal selection on the power of the pen. A Joy.
The Battle for Spain by Anthony Beevor
