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The Battle for Spain

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The Battle for Spain

By: Antony Beevor
Narrated by: Sean Barrett
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About this listen

The civil war that tore Spain apart between 1936 and 1939 and attracted liberals and socialists from across the world to support the cause against Franco was one of the most hard-fought and bitterest conflicts of the 20th century: a war of atrocities and political genocide and a military testing ground before WWII for the Russians, Italians and Germans, whose Condor Legion so notoriously destroyed Guernica.

Antony Beevor's account narrates the origins of the Civil War and its violent and dramatic course from the coup d'etat in July 1936 through the savage fighting of the next three years which ended in catastrophic defeat for the Republicans in 1939. And he succeeds especially well in unravelling the complex political and regional forces that played such an important part in the origins and history of the war.

©2006 Antony Beevor (P)2011 Orion 20th Century Europe Military Modern Spain War Interwar Period Imperialism Civil War Winston Churchill France Royalty

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Critic reviews

Fascination lies in the human drama, superbly captured by Beevor ... a vivid chronicle of a dreadful time and place (Max Hastings)

An admirably clear-sighted account ... a great achievement (Miranda France)
A moving masterpiece of the indictment of war (Felipe Fernández-Armesto)
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Gives a balanced view of all sides their strengths, weaknesses and an insight into the main characters of this conflict, great narration that makes it an easy listen.

Great book well narrated

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Fascinating account of tge Spanish Civil War. Well written and well read. Covers tge background, the conflict and the afternath. interesting chapter on the propaganda War as well.

Fascinating account of the Spanish Civil War.

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Excellent and detailed book about the Spanish Civil War. Great narrator. Beevor goes into detail about the Civil War inside the Civil War, and Stalin's use and abuse of the Republican cause. A great book, very thorough, with historical, geographical, political and military angles well covered; yet it manages to stay at the level of human interaction and to be moving and reflective

Excellent, complete, not for beginners

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Antony Beevor walks a fine line between strategy and personal experience, warfighting and politics, left and right. The result is therefore bound to aggravate a bunch of people who think they know the moral of every story before it starts. Fir myself I must have listened a dozen times and find myself reflecting in new ways every time.

Sean Barrett is an excellent narrator. At times romantic, at other times gloomily churchillian.

Remarkably and depressingly germane

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Oh, this is good. A mass of complicated and difficult material rendered in an accessible way by a very accomplished historian, and a splendid, lambent narration which finds a perfect tone for the text. I really enjoyed this, although the waste, betrayal and vicious stupidity which underpin the conflict made it almost unbearable in places. Notwithstanding that, Beevor finds places to foreground the triumph of human decency against hellish odds. All in all, this is a smashing piece of work.

Almost unbearably sad, but so beautifully told.

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Excellent overview of the conflict, its immediate causes, the main protagonists and the course of this incredibly divisive civil war. Well read with appropriate emphasis, good pronunciation of Spanish names and locations that assist in the overall understanding of this complex conflict.

Excellent factual account of an incredibly complex conflict.

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A very good listen - very accessible to the layman. Seems to cover just about everything with just suffecient depth.

Great

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Really exciting retelling of the history. Loved it. For me it was more like a Tom Clancy or Frederick Forsyth novel.

Loved it!

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The chapters of Audio did not match the chapters of the book.
It would be good to have an attachment of maps to go with this book, as well as illustrations of the prominent individuals named.

Very good but could be better

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Always enjoy Antony beavers books and this one was up there with the others . would recommend too anyone looking to no more about the subject .

Antony Beaver brilliant as always.

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