Hell and Good Company: The Spanish Civil War and the World It Made

Best explanation I have read so far of how the conflict started and the outside forces (German and Italian) that kept it going, leading to horrendous casualties. Also loved the parts dealing with medical advances, such as the use of plaster of Paris casts and refrigeration of blood transfusions, both of which saved many limbs, as well as lives. Wonderful book that read like a novel, entertaining and informative and thought-provoking. I highly recommend it.

I have always been fascinated by what has been called "the romance of lost causes". Richard Rhodes' book focuses in on that aspect of the conflict with a special emphasis on the English speaking artists, intellectuals and medical personnel who were attracted to the conflict. Their stories are fascinating even if their politics seem painfully naive by today's standards. Because I had recently finished Antony Beever's excellent 'The Battle for Spain' I had some understanding of the context and course of the war, which is not covered in any depth in Rhodes' work. The two books complement each other, as do several other well received books that have come out on the subject. The Spanish Civil War seems to have been an unusually bloody and painful conflict that still evokes strong emotions among both the Spanish survivors and their descendents and the partisans of the two international ideologies that claimed that struggle for their own. It seems that only now that the war has almost completely faded from living memory and both of the conflicting ideologies have been almost completely discredited can authors attempt to take and objective look at the conflict that many see as the opening act of WW II.

The Spanish Civil War is such an extraordinary event and should be studied far more that it is. Having traveled through Spain in the Franco era, I remember feeling how nice it was that Spain was such an organized country where the trains run on time, there was no crime, everything was as a visitor expected it to be. But the dark underside of Franco's regime was revealed in this atrocious little war in the mid 30s, at least partly because of what it presaged in the second world war to come. So much of man's beastliness to man was developed or practiced in Spain before being unleashed in a broader context in the late 30s and 40s. However this book doesn't do justice to the Spanish Civil War. I was very disappointed - it is very readable but does not capture the depth of the passion of the common people who volunteered to fight for their ideals, nor of the leaders of this cathartic event. This is a very workmanlike book and certainly achieves a great deal but gives the impression that in some way Richard Rhodes was not very engaged in this subject.

Of several books I've read on the Spanish Civil War, this is the best. It is a good narrative history, very readable, touching on many extraordinary characters on the Republican side. I read it as an eBook and was often wanting to refer to the map contained within the book; print it out so that you can refer to it. Ask not for whom the bell tolls.

I have been a long time student of the Spanish Civil War going back to 1960 when I read Arturo Barea's The Clash and saw the film For Whom the Bell Tolls.All accounts have special twists and flavor and I am not convinced there is any story written about this the major first battle between democracy and facism, tells it all truthfully. There are just two many sides and points of view to believe that there is a one revealed truth.However, thish volume adds more recents research to the discussion and provides a more current analysis of the war.

This is my second book by Rhodes. I like it, it is written in the same style as his later book dealing with the hydrogen bomb.While the nuclear arms are fundamental to the history of the world after 1939, the Spanish civil war was just a brief interlude basically decided by major powers, Germany, Italy and Spain.Only one tradition of it persist to these day: voluntary medical service offered by volunteers recruited in the West. No fighting international brigades that kind of disappeared even before the end of the Spanish war anyway. It makes a perfect sense to put your life in danger to save other people but not to fight other people wars.Technically, the rebirth of democracy in Spain before the end of Franco's death is not a part of the Spanish civil war and the author mentions only in passing.The participation of Soviet Union in the Spanish war was surely controversial and influenced Hemingway, Koestler and Orwell in a major way. But this is an old story today as well.Four stars, a brief but important part of European 20th century history.

A completely different look at the Spanish Civil War The book could have been titled the History of Red Cross efforts during the Civil Conflict in Spain because so much time is dedicated to tracking medical supplies. Or, perhaps the death of art and culture during the Spanish Civil War because more time is dedicated to the interpretation of Picasso's famous depiction of bomb-ravaged Guernica than to the critical battles around Madrid and Franco's strategic shift to the northwest.I enjoyed the book but by no means loved it. The roles of the Germans, Italians (huge for these two), Russians (less so for the hammer & sickle) and France and England (barely existent) and then finally the US (non-existent) give perspective to the impact of democratic governments and their ability to prepare for war as opposed to dictatorships (both fascist and socialist). It also serves to help the reader understand the impact of the great economic depession on various countries and the almost total lack of concern Americans had for wars geographically beyond Mexico or Canada.

Oa informação sobre detalhes diferentes sobre a guerra civil

This is terrific. Not a systematic history of the Civil War (but you can go elsewhere for these), but a kaleidoscope of impressions, episodes and individual stories that gives a strong impression of place and people. However, be aware that this is a story told entirely through republican eyes. The nationalists are treated simply as the force of evil. While I would agree with this overall, there are surely stories of individuals that merit being brought out. But, as Hemingway comments in 'Death in the Afternoon', you cannot compress all of Spain between the covers of a single book. If you love Hemingway and Orwell, want to know about the development of blood transfusion techniques, have ever walked through the university quarter of Madrid, or are fascinated by the volunteers who went from more than 50 countries to fight in the International Brigades, this is the book for you.

Richard Rhodes has an impressive CV, his many accolades topped by a Pulitzer Prize. The Spanish Civil War is a new topic for him. This is a major fail.He does not read Spanish. He refers in the introduction to an archive of personal narratives in the Tamiment Library, New York, but it is not apparent he has used this source. Most of his material derives from standard histories and some more recently published works. It is short - just over 200 pages in the hardback edition. A selection of photographs is included but there is only one map - this indicates where his interest lay or did not lie.From this account you could be forgiven for thinking that Spain and its people were not really involved. We do get a great deal on Picasso [and his mistresses] and Miro. Orwell is discussed at some length, though a mere bit part compared to the pages devoted to Hemingway [and his mistresses!]. There are starring roles for American doctors and British nurses. When it comes to actual fighting - the International Brigade seems to have that covered.There is no analysis of the war as a military struggle. Accounts of a few battles are written almost entirely from the perspective of American volunteers. The history of Spain prior to July 1936 is ignored. There is no discussion of Spanish society and social divisions. There is no analysis of the political forces of the Republic. Franco was bad - the Republic good; beyond that not much - the charms of Martha Gellhorn being much more interesting.Really it is no more than a series of sketches of some famous names - perhaps the "good company" of the title - in wartime - the "hell" of the same. Everything about his cast can anyway be found elsewhere - in the sources cited in footnotes. Though this is not plagiarism, the book contains nothing original in content or in the author's treatment of it.A few more illustrations and you would have what used to be called a coffee table book.If you think I am harsh then look at the article by Paul Berman in the New York Times.I have to wonder how it came to be written. I came across it in Foyle's London - its eye-catching cover on a neat little pile on the "What's New in History" table. It was surrounded by new volumes on specialized themes of the well-studied conflict Hotel Florida: Truth, Love and Death in the Spanish Civil War Unlikely Warriors: The Extraordinary Story Of The Britons Who Fought In The Spanish Civil War The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939. It filled a gap - sort of. Is this what the publisher thought too - let's get a well-respected name to give us something on this current hot topic?