The Spanish Civil War (book)

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The Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War (book).jpg
Author Hugh Thomas
LanguageEnglish
Subject Spanish Civil War
Published1961
Media typePrint
Pages1096 [4th, revised ed.]
ISBN 978-0-141-01161-5

The Spanish Civil War is a book by Hugh Thomas; it provides scholarly historiographic account of the Spanish Civil War. The work, written since 1957, was first published in 1961: simultaneously in the United Kingdom by Eyre & Spottiswoode and in the United States by Harpers'. Upon release it received rather positive reviews; it won the Somerset Maugham Prize in 1962 and during the following few years was translated and published in Portugal, France, Germany, Denmark and Italy. Despite initial approving reviews, in Francoist Spain the book received unfavorable treatment and has never been published.

Contents

The work was revised and enlarged in 1965, 1977 and 2001. It was re-issued many times, the last edition during the lifetime of the author in 2012 and the last known edition in 2022. During decades it remained the most popular monograph on the war and was translated into at least 11 languages; it reportedly sold in over 1m copies around the globe. It remains quoted as a key work in bibliographical listings of present-day scholarly works on the war. It is usually acclaimed for non-biased perspective, high level of detail and lively narrative. Fairly rare critical remarks claim that the work is about storytelling rather than historical analysis, that some interpretations advanced are doubtful, and that some sources are trusted too much while other have not been consulted at all.

Background

Historiography so far

First serious interpretative works on the Spanish civil war started to appear when the conflict was still ongoing (Rudolf Rocker 1937, [1] Frantisek Jellinek 1938 [2] ). Afterwards in Francoist Spain numerous books went to print, but they largely adhered to propagandistic format; the best and the most detailed one was also plagued by censorship limitations (Joaquín Arrarás, 1940-1943). [3] The analysis by Gerald Brennan covered causes rather than the war itself (1943). [4] Until the mid-1950s no acclaimed account of the Spanish civil war has been published. Beyond Spain there were merely numerous highly personal accounts (e.g. Julió Álvarez del Vayo 1940), [5] partisan party narratives (e.g. Herbert Matthews 1958) [6] or works which focused on some particular dimensions of the war (e.g. Patricia van der Esch 1951, [7] David Cattell 1954 [8] ). In 1953 Brennan declined the proposal to write a broader work [9] and suggested to Raymond Carr – who got interested in Spain only in the early 1950s - that he tries himself. The latter indeed started to reflect upon the matter, but his considerations bore fruit much later. Herbert Southworth remained active in broad public debate rather than in academia and was yet to start writing his most famous work (1963). Also Pierre Broué and Émile Témime were about to commence work on their large, Trotskyism-flavoured book, to be published in 1961. [10] Burnett Bolloten was merely collecting data, gathered in his later book (also 1961). Gabriel Jackson was a young college teacher and has not even started working on his account, which appeared in the mid-1960s. [11]

Author

In the late 1950s Thomas was in his mid-20s. The Cambridge graduate, former employee of the Foreign Office and member of the British delegation to the UN Disarmament Commission, he was released at his own request due to unease with the policies he was asked to promote. [12] In the summer of 1956 he tried his hand in literature publishing a barely noticed novel on futilities of diplomatic life, The World Game. In 1957 he co-authored a 33-page brochure issued by the Fabian Society, titled Disarmament – The Way Ahead. [13] Disarmament remained "one of his main areas of interest". [14] Together with Philip Noel-Baker he considered setting up a National Disarmament League; [15] as director of Disarmament Campaign [16] by United Nations Association [17] he took part in various conferences, [18] also at a meeting of the British-Soviet Friendship Society. [19] He admitted left-wing sympathies, possibly bordering socialism. [20] Some publicity given to his clash with the Foreign Office made him an attractive catch for the Labour Party; he unsuccessfully stood as parliamentary candidate in 1957-1958 for Ruislip and Northwood. [21] His job at the time was a brief stint as a lecturer at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. [22] Some sources claim that in 1955 Thomas visited Spain for the first time and began his research on the civil war, [23] yet in his Introduction, dwelling on origins of the book, he did not mention such an episode. [24] At the time Thomas did not know any Spanish [25] and though historian by education, he has not published a single historiographic work. A contemporary scholar claims that "in the late 1950s Thomas was casting around for the best use of his talents". [26]

In the making

Origins

James MacGibbon, a wartime Soviet spy (later a suspect under the MI5 surveillance, which was all unknown to Thomas) [27] and literary agent of the Curtis Brown literary agency, approached the 25-year-old Thomas some time halfway through 1957. [28] MacGibbon claimed having liked The World Game and its acid portrait of British diplomatic circles. [29] He hinted to Thomas that an American firm Coward McCann wanted to commission a book about the Spanish civil war; he asked whether Thomas would be interested. Thomas confirmed and in August he provided an outline to Cass Canfield Jr., at the time the representative of Coward McCann. [30] Canfield liked it and commissioned Thomas for Harper’s, which he had by then joined. Thomas shared the outline also with his agent at Eyre and Spottiswoode (the British company which published The World Game), Douglas Jerrold, an active supporter of Franco 20 years before. By the autumn Thomas cashed in the $300 advance from Harper Brothers and £250 from Eyre and Spottiswoode, [31] both considerable amounts (in 1957 average annual earnings in the UK were some £390, the Ford Anglia model cost £571). [32] Further details are unknown; many years later, when approached by an Australian historian who was writing about impact of the Cold War on Anglo-American representations of Spanish civil war, Thomas denied him access to the correspondence between himself and his publisher. [33]

Work in progress

Thomas was working on the book for almost 4 years, since the summer of 1957 until the spring of 1961. [34] It is not clear whether he visited a single Spanish archive; in his introduction he did not mention any, though he was in Spain a number of times. He did research some documents of the Foreign Office, available at the time, the League of Nations papers in Geneva and numerous printed collections of American, German and Italian diplomatic sources. However, his key source was "a great library of books" written by the participants, "in every language imaginable". [35] Thomas also spoke to tens of individuals from all sides of the conflict, involved in the war; the highest-ranking ones were former ministers in their respective wartime governments, Ramón Serrano Suñer on the Nationalist side and Federica Montseny, Manuel Irujo [36] and Julio Alvarez del Vayo on the Republican one. Others included e.g. Pablo Azcárate, Alberto Onaindia, Josep Maria Tarradellas, José María Gil Robles, cardenal Ángel Herrera, Manuel Fal Conde and Don Juan de Borbón. His research carried him as far away as to Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile. [37] In later editions he listed 36 Spaniards and 49 people of other nationalities (mostly Britons) he interviewed. [38] Thomas also engaged in epistolographic exchange with a number of individuals, including war correspondents like Herbert Matthews and Henry Buckley. [39]

Publication

Thomas finished the draft in 1960. [40] It was shown to Eyre and Spottiswoode men, Maurice Temple-Smith, John Bright-Holmes and James Wright. It is not clear whether they suggested any changes or corrections; Thomas does not mention anything in the like and later he refused access to his correspondence with the publisher. Vanessa Jebb, who in April 1962 would become Thomas’s wife, [41] compiled the index. He returned to Spain once more "for some last-minute topographical observations" [42] before the work was deemed ready for publication; at the time he was already busy with the next project. [43] First news on the forthcoming book appeared in Britain as marketing information in January 1961. [44] The book was released in the United Kingdom by Eyre and Spottiswoode in April 1961 [45] and in the United States by Harper & Brothers in June 1961. [46] Initially the British edition on its cover was to feature the notorious photograph of Robert Capa, allegedly presenting a Republican militiaman in a moment when hit by enemy bullet, [47] but eventually the publisher settled for simple text, with no graphics. [48] In Britain the book cost 42 shillings [49] (approximately the cost of a nylon shirt from Marks & Spencer). [50] Both editions were hard-cover only. The first British edition was scaled rather moderately as 5,000 copies; they sold out very quickly during few months. [51] None of the sources consulted provides information on the number of copies of the US release.

Structure

The first 1961 edition (both in the United Kingdom and the United States) was 720 pages in total, but throughout all subsequent revisions across the decades it kept growing in size. The main historiographic narrative falls into 4 parts, named "books"; each of them is divided into numbered and untitled (except #1, titled Prologue, and #49, titled The Flight from Catalonia chapters). [52] Book 1 (The Origins of the War, pp. 1-186, 186 pages in total, chapters 1-12) presents the background and politics of the Second Republic, Book 2 (Rising and Revolution, pp. 187-450, 263 pages in total, chapters 13-27) deals with the period from July till October 1936, Book 3 (World War in Miniature, pp. 451-654, 203 pages in total, chapters 28-37) covers the months from November 1936 till April 1937) and Book 4 (The War of two Counter-Revolutions, pp. 655-890, 235 pages in total, chapters 38-50) is focused on the phase from May 1937 till April 1939. A brief Conclusion (pp. 891-930, 39 pages, chapter 51) follows. The last release (2012) contains also introduction to the 50th anniversary edition, table of contents, Author’s Notes (one-page explanation as to naming conventions adopted), list of technical abbreviations, list of political abbreviations, preface to the 2001 edition, 4 appendices, bibliographical note, select bibliography and index (footnotes are placed at the bottom of each page). The last edition (Penguin) contains 35 maps, but there is not a single picture (except the cover photograph of a Republican militiaman).

Immediate reception

Left

Moderate circles tended to positive. Michael Foot ( Tribune ) called it "a prodigy of a book". [53] Malcolm Muggeridge appreciated that the author skilfully tackled "disagreeable matter". [54] David Marquand ( Guardian ) delivered an ambiguous praise of "a masterpiece of old-fashioned history"; he noted "personalities which crowd his canvas spring to life … but social and economic history is rarely more than a background; and we get comparatively little sense of the blind, spasmodic heaving of a society in agony". [55] Daily Herald noted that "Mr. Hugh Thomas knows Spain and the Spaniards. Though supporter of the Republic, he writes as a scholar, with strict regard for facts". [56] However, among radical Left the book was heavily criticised. Vernon Richards described the book as "the most cynical book on the Civil War that I have read", claiming that fascinated with personalities, Thomas "more or less overlooks the chief actors – the revolutionary workers – in a struggle that held the world’s attention for nearly three years"; he declared also that the author "lacks the human sympathy without which it is impossible even to start understanding the Spanish people". [57] Similarly, William Alexander ( Daily Worker ) destroyed the work altogether. [58] Jay Allen was irritated by Thomas, "terribly fuzzy about a lot of things", [59] while Southworth dismissed him as the ethically dubious one who "does not want to take sides", a writer but not a historian. [60] IB veterans were outraged by suggestion that "the war was more than a simple contest between democracy and Fascism". [61]

On the Right opinions ranged from cautious approval to moderate criticism. Cyril Connolly ( Sunday Times ) concluded that "almost no aspect of the Civil War, however painful or unpopular, escapes him in this splendid book". The former Nationalist combatant Peter Kemp, who referred to Thomas as "young writer of the Left", [62] paid tribute to "a truly prodigious labour of research" as "clear, readable and carefully documented narrative"; he credited the author for his efforts "to control his own sympathy for the Republic", but concluded that the author was "not quite able to conceal his prejudice against the Nationalists and, in particular, General Franco". [63] Similarly, Arnold Lunn, who wrote to the conservative Catholic Herald , saw the narrative as somewhat biased in favour of the Republicans and underlined reported prejudices of the author against Franco, yet he still thought the work highly readable and interesting. [64] The Sphere acknowledged the book as notable historiographic achievement, especially that "Hugh Thomas admits his sympathies are with the Republicans but this does not prevent him from being scrupulously fair to the Rebels". [65] The Illustrated London News published a large, one-page review by Charles Petrie, who during the war co-led a pro-Nationalist propaganda campaign in Britain; though somewhat cautious and with reservations, the article nevertheless recommended the book as a sound piece of historiography. [66] Roy Jenkins praised it in The Spectator . [67] Popular local media published assenting notes, like "it is a book hard to lay aside". [68]

Academia

First reviews by professional historians differed. John Lynch praised it as a work which breaks through "the smokescreen put up by journalists and propagandists". [69] Raymond Carr commended the work as a "balanced account" but had reservations about what he saw as Thomas’s liking for amusing anecdotes, which diminished the overall picture, and added that "my quarrel with Mr Thomas is one of proportion and detail". [70] Norman Padelford claimed that "the volume gives the fullest and quite the most insightful account of what transpired within Republican circles" but "is somewhat less definitive on the Nationalist side". [71] Stanley G. Payne praised level of detail and "emotional disengagement", but complained about insufficient archival research, "rather poor organisation", "clumsy style and confusing syntax". [72] Hugh Trevor-Rooper wrote to Bolloten that "it is maddening to me that your book dropped unnoticed from the English press while the vastly inferior work of Hugh Thomas was accepted by the reviewers". [73] Angel Palerm noticed "indifference and lack of comprehension, not objectivity and impartiality", that the book "enables the outsider to view the war in Spain … as the bullfights or the flagellant processions" and is "another link in the chain of ‘black’ literature about Spain". [74] Robert G. Colodny [75] delivered a demolishing review; he failed to notice a "deeper insight" and concluded that Thomas "parades his erudition that is rendered lifeless by the dust of archives and the moral emasculation that masquerades as scholarly detachment and objectivity", suspecting that "Thomas’s failure is traceable to the astigmatic miasma of the Cold War". [76] In 1962 the book earned the Somerset Maugham Award. [77]

Spain

In 1960, shortly before the publication, Thomas enjoyed brief attention of Spanish press; many titles referred his letter to The New Statesman , where he withdrew earlier reservations (expressed in 1958 review of the work by Herbert Matthews) as to authenticity of Moscardó’s phone talk with his son during the siege of Alcazár. It was noted that though Thomas was "bien conocido por su inclinación izquierdista", [78] he behaved like a gentleman and even offered his apologies to Moscardó’s widow. [79] Following the book release initial reviews were rather positive; they highlighted paragraphs thought to be in line with the Francoist historiographic narrative. [80] In 1961 the semi-official Hoja Oficial de Lunes [81] noted "libro veraz y objetivo", in which "el historiador inglés Hugh Thomas desentraña el verdadero signo de la Cruzada". [82] However, a detailed confidential 1962 analysis which reached Franco was largely critical. [83] The public tone started to change; though in 1963 some authors claimed that even Thomas, "poco sospechoso también de favorable a los nacionales", reportedly confirmed some threads of the official Francoist perspective, [84] the same year he was also stigmatized elsewhere as "el arrogante y juvenil Hugh Thomas". [85] In a largely critical 1964 review he was counted among authors who "parecen incapaces de librarse de los prejudicios que la rodean". [86] In the mid-1960s he might have been referred to as "el procomunista Hugh Thomas". [87] In 1966 the semi-official Boletín de Orientación Bibliográfica dismissed the work, the key charge having been "aceptación ciega de las fuentes". [88] The exile Anarchist press lambasted the work from the onset as written with "malas intenciones y tendencia a la falsedad". [89] Some exile pundits, though with minor reservations, admitted "irreproachable impartiality". [90]

Changes

Translations and revisions

In the UK the first print-run was shortly followed by additional one; altogether in Britain the first edition sold in 16,000 copies. [91] In the US the book for a few weeks appeared on the bestseller list, compiled by Time . [92] The work immediately attracted attention of publishing houses abroad. The first translation – anonymous and later criticized for manipulating the original [93] - was into Spanish by the Paris-based émigré publishing house Ruedo Ibérico, released already in 1961 (La guerra civil española). [94] Other translations soon followed: in 1961 into Portuguese (A guerra civil de Espanha) [95] and French (La guerre d'Espagne), [96] in 1962 into German (Der spanische Bürgerkrieg) [97] and Danish (Den spanske borgerkrig) [98] and in 1963 into Italian (Storia della guerra civile spagnola). [99] The second edition, re-worked by Thomas, was published by Penguin Books in 1965, [100] to be re-issued by Pelican Books in 1968. In 1970 the book was translated into Greek (Ιστορία Του Ισπανικού Εμφυλίου Πολέμου). [101] By that time the work has already been re-issued by foreign publishers, e.g. in West Germany in 1964 [102] or in France in 1967. [103] The book was first published in Spain in 1976 [104] in a new, non-partisan translation. [105] The third English-language edition (following another revision) was released in 1977, reprinted with a new preface in 1986 and then in 1990. The fourth edition appeared on the market in 2001, to be renewed in 2003 and (as anniversary edition) in 2012. By this time the book has been translated into Swedish (Spanska inbördeskriget), [106] Dutch (De spaanse burgerloog), [107] Russian (Гражданская война в Испании) [108] and Hebrew (מלחמת האזרחים בספרד). [109] Thomas claimed the book "had seventeen foreign publishers" and declared (incorrectly) that it "was printed in every language of the European Union". [110]

Editorial

The last edition of The Spanish Civil, published during the lifetime of the author, took place in 2012. Since its original release 51 years earlier the structure of the work remained mostly unchanged. Some minor additional sections have been appended in-between (e.g. a preface to the 2001 edition, and then on top of it an additional preface written in 2012 for the 50th anniversary edition), while some sections have disappeared (e.g. the first edition contained a brief part titled Some leading actors in the Spanish civil war, which has been dropped later). [111] Some editions contained appendices, not published in other cases (e.g. the US version of 1986 included one appendix dedicated to Spanish economy, another one focused on the International Brigades, and one more with figures on the Catalan industry production). [112] Few maps placed in the first editions have been later left out [113] and some maps have undergone minor re-edition. [114] Brief summary of each chapter, originally placed at its beginning (and included in the table of contents), [115] was then eliminated. Assortments of photographs included in the book differed depending upon release and publisher [116] (the last edition contains no photographs at all). In some cases the work was published in two or more physical volumes. Minor editorial changes followed, e.g. cases of italics, like bourgeoisie, were converted to regular font. Covers of specific editions varied enormously, ranging from simple text with no graphics at all to reproduction of wartime posters, photographs or collages. Bibliography kept growing, as new titles published were being acknowledged in subsequent editions. [117]

Narrative

Since the 1961 debut of the book Thomas revised it 3 times. Revisions were largely about elaborating on specific episodes in more detail; the book grew from 720 pages in 1961 to 1096 pages in 2012 and in later editions there were tens of new footnotes added, pointing to works published in the 1970s [118] or the 1980s. [119] Some alterations were vital. The death toll of the war, initially estimated at some 0.65m, in the mid-1970s was reduced to 0.37m. [120] Other changes referred to key episodes, e.g. initially Thomas claimed that Mola first set the day of the coup on 15 July, [121] the claim he dropped later. [122] Some commentators noticed major shifts in interpretation. [123] In not few cases division into chapters changed, e.g. originally the events from late June 1936 till the coup were referred in chapters 13 and 14, [124] while later they were consolidated within one chapter. [125] Some paragraphs were shifted across the narrative, e.g. originally the death of Lorca was referred in chapter 19, but later it was moved to chapter 16. [126] Numerous other, less important changes have been introduced. Some other figures have been re-assessed, e.g. casualties of the Battle of Jarama were reduced by almost two-thirds. [127] In some cases (Guernica) numbers were revised first downwards and than again, but upwards. [128] Opinion on few key figures changed. [129] Account of certain details was re-formulated. [130] Some errors were corrected. [131] Thomas’ assessment of some sources changed (e.g. the case of Krivitsky); [132] this refers to some episodes as well (Moscardó’s phone talk with his son). [133] Initial wrong personal claims have been later dropped with apologies offered (e.g. in case of Gustavo Durán and the Usera Tunnel scam). [134] Some quotations have been re-sourced, e.g. the one from Durruti. [135]

Later fate

In Spain

The book has never been published in Francoist Spain and numerous sources claim that it "has been banned". [136] Single copies were being brought from France. One such case, dated 1967, ended up with detention of a Spaniard in question; as the book was among numerous bulletins and leaflets carried, the man was charged with "illegal propaganda" and "spreading communism". [137] From time to time Thomas was subject to press criticism, with irony prevailing over assault. [138] According to some sources Sección de Estudios sobre la Guerra de España, a section within the Ministry of Information, was set up to counter the narrative offered not only by Southworth, but also by Thomas. [139] Rafael Casas tackled his mistakes in a dedicated article. [140] However, Thomas kept visiting Spain; in 1969 one title noted the paradox that while he remained "historiador prohibido", Thomas was giving public lectures in various Spanish cities. [141] In the early 1970s he was being interviewed by official press, also offering his comments on the book. [142] In 1974 Ramón Salas Larrazábal commented favourably that when preparing his work, Hugh Thomas intended to "escribir la primera [historia] con intención de imparcialidad, aunque no saliera perfecta". [143] After the fall of Francoism The Spanish Civil War was immediately translated and re-issued a number of times; until works of Spanish scholars appeared on the market in the 1980s, Thomas emerged as the primary point of reference. Since beginning of the bitter memory war in the 1990s he escaped major criticism, be it from the Left or from the Right. His passing away was acknowledged as loss of a great Hispanist both by the socialist El País [144] and the right-wing El Confidencial , [145] though in some cases this was due to his criticism of the Black Legend rather than to his work on the civil war. [146]

Current standing

Though the book was written in the late 1950s, in the 21st century it is not relegated to the "old stuff" category, a distant and outdated remnant of where historiography was 60 years ago. Because Thomas kept revising it until the 2010s, it is considered a monograph fully recommendable for a present-day reader. In academic historiographic works on the Spanish civil war, published recently, it is a must-have item in accompanying bibliographical listings or bibliographical essays. [147] Numerous scholars refer it as "critically acclaimed", [148] "seminal work" [149] or "una de las referencias más importantes". [150] One author declared it "verdadero exponente del empirismo clásico definitorio de la historiografía británica". [151] According to some history professionals, until today it is "the best general work in English on the Spanish Civil War" [152] and it "stands without rivals as the most balanced and comprehensive book on the subject". [153] Some scholars declare that the book was "the greatest single influence on my writing and, indeed, my general approach as a historian". [154] Marketing campaigns keep advertising the work as "the best, most engrossing narrative" of the war [155] or "definitive one-volume history of a conflict". [156] Also in popular discourse the book is viewed as "obra maestra", [157] "one of key works on the conflict" [158] and "el clásico", [159] acknowledged in such terms both by the right-wing ABC [160] and the socialist El País. Perhaps the most frequently repeated praise is related to non-biased attitude. [161] The book reportedly sold "nearly a million copies throughout the world" [162] and is being constantly re-published; in 2022 Spanish newspapers decided to issue a pocket book reprint. [163]

Criticism

In present-day public discourse critical remarks about Thomas’s work are fairly rare if not exceptional. Some authors repeat reservations raised already in the 1960s, namely that the book was more about storytelling then about historiographic analysis. [164] Paul Preston, in popular statements usually highly apologetic towards his academic master, in opinions intended for specialist audience adheres to the cautious tone when noting ambiguously a "highly colourful narrative account" and summarising that the book "did an enormous amount to popularize the subject but it constitutes a readable compendium of information about the war rather than a major historiographical landmark". [165] Thomas’s effort to maintain "liberal objective stance" might be taken against him, with remarks about "merely attempting to find an equilibrium", which reportedly led to initial "dominance of narrative over analysis", merely "corrected somewhat" in subsequent editions. [166] In terms of specific interpretations offered, Payne remains highly sceptical about Thomas’s vision of "the War of the Two Counter Revolutions" against his own perspective of the war as principally the conflict between revolution and counter-revolution. [167] One scholar opined that "equally dated are the repeated clichés about the Spanish character, and, indeed, Thomas’s readiness to stereotype all national groupings that participated in the civil war" [168] and – repeating some earlier scholarly doubts and despite numerous revisions of the book – pointed to insufficient source criticism, which render some paragraphs dubious. [169] Numerous specific episodes are tackled as incorrectly accounted, e.g. in case of International Brigades or the Anarchists. [170] Few glaring mistakes survived all revisions and keep being repeated also in the very recent editions. [171]

Impact

For Thomas personally the book was a turning point. Before he was a young disarmament activist unknown to wider public, former civil servant with no permanent job, and the author of two failed novels, who kept hovering around left-wing circles. The publication catapulted the barely 30-year-old author to the status of authority on the Spanish civil war, earned him name in Britain, the United States and Europe, and set him up financially. It also determined his future lifetime career as principally this of a historian, author and scholar. In few years he turned from a person who did not even know Spanish into a Hispanist, later to become a great Hispanist. Many years afterward Thomas admitted that the reviews the book got on its release were a determining factor in his own life and career. [172] For historiography on the Spanish Civil War the book formed a turning point as well. Though the year of 1961 marked the appearance of 3 major works (Thomas, Bolloten, Broué/Témime), it was the work of Thomas which enjoyed major impact. According to a scholar who in 2011 summarized 70 years of historiographic output on the war, the year of 1961 was "punto de arranque", which ended domination of "mythical grand-narratives produced by both contending parties" (i.e. this of a "crusade" and this of "fighting fascism") and commenced a new wave of scientifically mature works (later in the 1960s also Southworth, Jackson, Carr, Tuñón de Lara, Payne, Malefakis). [173] Another professional Hispanist claims that in this very field the book formed part of "the academic breakthrough" of the 1960s. [174] Probably for some half a century the book was the most popular monograph on the war; its preeminence came under threat as late as in 2006, with release of the popular work fathered by Antony Beevor, "whose sweeping narrative now challenges Thomas". [175]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Rudolf Rocker, The Tragedy of Spain, New York 1937
  2. ↑ Frank Jellinek, The Civil War in Spain, London 1938
  3. ↑ Joaquín Arráras, Historia de la cruzada española, Madrid 1940-1943
  4. ↑ Gerald Brennan, The Spanish labyrinth: an account of the social and political background of the Civil War, Cambridge 1943
  5. ↑ Julió Álvarez del Vayo, Freedom’s Battle, New York 1940
  6. ↑ Herbert Matthews, The Yoke and the Arrows, New York 1958
  7. ↑ Patricia van der Esch, Prelude to war. The international repercussions of the Spanish Civil War, The Hague 1951
  8. ↑ David Tredwell Cattell, Communism and the Spanish Civil War, Los Angeles 1954
  9. ↑ Paul Preston, Raymond Carr (1919-2015), [in:] Bulletin of Spanish Studies 94/3 (2017), pp. 527-533
  10. ↑ Pierre Broué, Émile Témime, La Révolution et la guerre d’Espagne, Paris 1961
  11. ↑ Javier Paniagua, José A Piqueras, Jooaquim Prats, Conversación con Gabriel Jackson, [in:] Aula-Historia Social 2 (1998), pp. 4-14
  12. ↑ Tom Buchanan, 1961: Hugh Thomas and the Turning Point, [in:] “Spain Mad”. British Engagement witht he Spanish Civil War, Liverpool 2024, ISBN 9781802075496, p. 183
  13. ↑ compare e.g. Disarmament – the way ahead , London 1957, available at NLA service
  14. ↑ Buchanan 2024, p. 183. In the 1960s Thomas kept publishing on disarmament, see e.g. Disarmament: dream or reality, [in:] Political Quarterly 31 (1960), pp. 17-25
  15. ↑ Buchanan 2024, p. 183
  16. ↑ Barnolsdwick & Earby Times 04.11.1960, p. 8
  17. ↑ Clitheroe Advertiser and Times 04.11.1960, p. 1
  18. ↑ Worthing Gazette 01.03.1961, p. 5
  19. ↑ Croydon Times, 05.05.1961, p. 4
  20. ↑ "He later wrote that the ‘fresh Left-wing ideas blowing along the Left Bank’ made him – if not a socialist – at least a ‘passionate opponent’ of the policies that he was later asked to promote, such as German rearmament and the nuclear deterrent", Buchanan 2024, p. 183
  21. ↑ Paul Preston, ‘A professional historian in private practice’. Hugh Thomas: The Spanish Civil War and Beyond, [in:] Bulletin of Spanish Studies 95/9-10 (2017), p. 2 [pagination referred after the online version
  22. ↑ Preston 2017, p. 3
  23. ↑ "In 1955, he visited Spain for the first time and began his research on the Spanish Civil War", Carmen Balcells, Hugh Thomas , [in:] Agencia Literaria 2017
  24. ↑ compare Introduction to the 50th Anniversary Edition, [in:] Hugh Thomas, The Spanish Civil War, London 2012, ISBN 9780141011615, pp. v-vii
  25. ↑ Preston, 2017, p. 4
  26. ↑ Buchanan 2024, p. 183
  27. ↑ Hamish MacGibbon, Maverick Spy: Stalin’s Super-Agent in World War II , [in:] GoogleBooks service
  28. ↑ Thomas 2012, p. v. Another version as to inception of the book, accounted also by Thomas himself, is presented in his earlier introduction to the Spanish edition. According to this story, when on holidays in Spain during the winter of 1955/56, "se enamoró de Andalucía". Back in England he asked one of his colleagues in FO why so far no-one has written a history of the civil war; the answer he got was "why don't you write it?", Enriqueta Vila, Hugh Thomas, hispanista e hispanoamericanista, [in:] Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos 821 (2018), pp. 23-24
  29. ↑ Preston 2017, p. 3
  30. ↑ Thomas 2012, p. v
  31. ↑ Thomas 2012, p. vi
  32. ↑ Dominic Midgley, 1957 was the happiest year of the 20th century, study reveals , [in:] Express 24.01.2017, How much did things cost in 1957? , [in:] Retrowow service
  33. ↑ Darryl Anthony Burrowes, Historians at war. Cold war influence on Anglo-American representations of the Spanish Civil War [PhD thesis Flinders University], Adelaide 2016, p. 24
  34. ↑ Thomas 2012, p. vi
  35. ↑ Thomas 2012, p. x
  36. ↑ in the prologue Thomas listed „Don Martín de Irujo" as one of his interlocutors, Thomas 2012, p. xxv. There is no "Martín Irujo" involved, and the person meant must be Manuel Irujo
  37. ↑ to speak to a Polish-Jewish emigree, Maurycy Amster, Thomas 2012, p. 478
  38. ↑ Thomas 2012, p. xxv
  39. ↑ Preston 2017, p. 4
  40. ↑ Thomas 2012, p. xi
  41. ↑ Aberdeen Evening Express 25.04.1962, p. 4
  42. ↑ Thomas 2012, p. xi
  43. ↑ he was already preparing The Story of Sandhurst, a 244-book advertised on its cover as "military aspects of Sandhurst’s establishment and growth but also provides first-class social history of the times"
  44. ↑ the first press acknowledgement identified is from mid-January, Bookseller 14.01.1961, p. 26
  45. ↑ Thomas 2012, p. xi
  46. ↑ The Plain Dealer 18.06.1961, p. 142
  47. ↑ Bookseller 14.01.1961, p. 26
  48. ↑ compare the 1961 edition at AbeBooks service
  49. ↑ Liverpool Daily Post 03.05.1961, p. 9
  50. ↑ How much did things cost in 1961? , [in:] Retrowow service
  51. ↑ Preston 2017, p. 8
  52. ↑ referred after the 2012 edition
  53. ↑ Preston 2017, p. 4
  54. ↑ David Mitchell, Looking back Hugh Thomas on the work done , [in:] London Review of Books 5/12 (1983)
  55. ↑ Preston 2017, p. 5
  56. ↑ Daily Herald 29.04.1961, p. 6
  57. ↑ Preston 2017, pp. 5-6
  58. ↑ Pueblo 12.05.1961
  59. ↑ Burrowes 2016, p. 215
  60. ↑ Southowrth wrote to Jay Allen about Thomas: "a nice fellow, but a professional writer and not of our generation [who] wants to make money, which is quite all right, but he does not want to take sides, even in an old story like that of Spain’." In the 1970s Southworth, initially on fairly good terms with Thomas, became his bitter personal enemy, Burrowes 2015, p. 215 and passim
  61. ↑ S. P. MacKenzie, Revolutionary Armies in Modern Era, New York 2013, ISBN 9781135091194, p. 120
  62. ↑ Pueblo 12.05.1961
  63. ↑ Preston 2017, p. 5
  64. ↑ Baleares 19.05.1961
  65. ↑ The Sphere 20.05.1961, p. 8
  66. ↑ The Illustrated London News 06.05.1961, p. 21
  67. ↑ Thomas 2012, p. xi
  68. ↑ Liverpool Echo 11.05.1961, p. 12
  69. ↑ John Lynch, H. Thomas, The Spanish Civil War, [in:] Bulletin of Hispanic Studies 39/2 (1962), p. 112
  70. ↑ Preston 2017, p. 7. Thomas summarised it later as "Raymond Carr was friendly in the Observer", Thomas 2012, p. xi
  71. ↑ Norman J. Padelford, The Spanish Civil War by Hugh Thomas, [in:] Political Science Quarterly 76/4 (1961), pp. 608-610
  72. ↑ Stanley G. Payne, Recent studies on the Spanish civil war, [in:] The Journal of Modern History 34/3 (1962), p. 312
  73. ↑ Burnett Bolloten, The Spanish Civil War, Chapel Hill 1991, ISBN 9781469624464, p. XLII
  74. ↑ Preston 2017, pp. 6-7
  75. ↑ a former IB combatant turned history professor at Pittsburgh
  76. ↑ "thus far, poets and novelists have come closer to achieving such insights [viewing the war against the perspective of universal history] than have most historians, including Hugh Thomas". He "has gone beyong mere description" but his work "lacks focus" as "there is no criterion of relevancy. The most stupendous tragedies are set down next to masses of trivia". So it is "a repository of useful and often vital information". Worse still, enjoying advantages of writing 20 years afterwards, "he repeats the old canard that the Soviets sent only sufficient aid to keep the war going" and other. "Perhaps some of Thomas’s failure is traceable to the astigmatic miasma of the Cold War". Also "The point is that to misconceive the roots of the passion of the Spanish conflict is to misread not only the motives of the participants, but the nature of the strategy and tactics of both camps. The campaigns in Spain – reflecting the shifting ideological pattern – are understandable only in terms of these elements of hope and despair. This fact Thomas misses completely", Robert G. Colodny, The Spanish Civil War, by Hugh Thomas, [in:] Science & Society 27/1 (1963), pp. 77-80
  77. ↑ compare Literary Awards service
  78. ↑ see e.g. El Adelantado 01.07.1960; numerous other Spanish titles also referred the story
  79. ↑ see e.g. Baleares 01.07.1960
  80. ↑ Pueblo 12.05.1961
  81. ↑ in Spain of the time newspapers usually did not go out on Mondays. Instead, the corporate newspaper association used to publish sort of a news bulletin
  82. ↑ Hoja Oficial de Lunes 17.07.1961
  83. ↑ full text reproduced in Javier Rodrigo, Franco y Hugh Thomas. Las notas para el Caudillo sobre La Guerra Civil española (1961), [in:] Revista Universitaria de Historia Militar 11/23 (2022), pp. 272-306
  84. ↑ El Español 08/06.1963
  85. ↑ Pueblo 08.08.1963
  86. ↑ El Español 06.06.1964
  87. ↑ El Español 28.10.1967
  88. ↑ Boletín de Orientación Bibliográfica 37/38 (1966), pp. 9-19
  89. ↑ CNT 16.07.1961
  90. ↑ Salvador de Madariaga disagreed with some matters of interpretation, yet he admitted that the book is "admirably documented" and reveals "a kind of passionate imagination which seems to have guided the author to search for the unthought-of source of the missing fact. It is furthermore written with an irreproachable impartiality, Preston 2017, p. 6. Pablo de Azcaraté pointed to some of Thomas’s errors, but remained cautiously positive, Información española 01.03.1972
  91. ↑ Buchanan 2024, p. 183
  92. ↑ Francisco Rojas Claros, La difusión del “Nuevo Hispanismo” en tiempos de Franco. Cinco emisiones de Radio París (1961-1970), [in:] Pasado y memoria 15 (2016), p. 312
  93. ↑ Guillermo Sanz Gallego, La traducción como manipulación historiográfica en el exilio, [in:] Arbor 192 (2016) [electronic version, no pagination]
  94. ↑ compare La Guerra Civil Española by Ruedo Ibérico at AbeBooks
  95. ↑ compare A guerra civil de Espanha by Castro e Silva at AbeBooks
  96. ↑ compare La guerre d’Espagne by Rober Laffront at AbeBooks
  97. ↑ compare Der spanische Bürgerkrieg by Ullstein at Amazon service
  98. ↑ compare Den spanske borgerkrig at Bbog service
  99. ↑ compare Storia della guerra civile spagnola by Libreria Piani at AbeBooks service
  100. ↑ Thomas 2013, p. 4 [non-paginated]
  101. ↑ compare Ιστορία Του Ισπανικού Εμφυλίου Πολέμου at Bibliopolio service
  102. ↑ compare Der spanische Bürgerkrieg by Büchergilde at AbeBooks service
  103. ↑ compare Histoire de la guerre d’Espagne by Livre de Poche at AbeBooks service
  104. ↑ Thomas 2012, p. xxiii
  105. ↑ e.g. in the original English version Thomas wrote "the most unforgettable of these deaths was perhaps that of Federico García Lorca". The anonymous 1961 Ruedo Ibérico translation had it as "la más imperdonable de estas murtes", p. 191. The new translation into Spanish by Neri Daurella, published by Grijalbo in 1976, featured "la más inolvidable de estas muertes", p. 338
  106. ↑ compare Spanska inbördeskriget at Bokborsen service
  107. ↑ compare De spaanse burgerloog at AbeBooks service
  108. ↑ compare Гражданская война в Испании at LiveLib service
  109. ↑ compare מלחמת האזרחים בספרד at FindABook service
  110. ↑ Thomas 2012, p. xii. The claim is not correct, as the book has never been published e.g. in Finnish, Czech or Hungarian
  111. ↑ compare the 1961 version, partially available online at Internet Archive Wayback Machine service
  112. ↑ compare the 1986 version, partially available online at Internet Archive Wayback Machine service
  113. ↑ e.g. the map The physical features of Spain
  114. ↑ e.g. the map The advance on Madrid originally contained names of commanders of specific rebel columns, advancing on Madrid, see the 1961 version at AbeBooks service, and compare to Thomas 2012, p. 420
  115. ↑ compare the 1961 version, partially available online at Internet Archive Wayback Machine service, also the German edition, available online at Internet Archive Wayback Machine service
  116. ↑ compare the Folio Society 2014 edition at StellaBooks service
  117. ↑ see e.g. Guy Hermet, Les Catholiques dans l’Espagne Franquiste, Paris 1981, which is referred on p. 753
  118. ↑ e.g. František Moravec, Master of Spies, London 1974, referred on p. 434
  119. ↑ e.g. Guy Hermet, Les Catholiques dans l’Espagne Franquiste, Paris 1981, referred on p. 753
  120. ↑ Thomas estimates that "the losses in lives from all causes" "must have been about 500,000", but this is including "those shot after the war", Thomas 2012, p. 900. However, the sub-totals detailed add up to 365,000 (KIA 200,000, repression 130,000, civilian victims of aerial bombardment 10,000, malnutrition etc 25,000), as he estimates 100,000 "deaths from execution or other causes subsequent to war", Thomas 2012, pp. 900-901
  121. ↑ Thomas 1961, pp. 117-120
  122. ↑ compare Thomas 2012, pp. 189-203
  123. ↑ „Perhaps the most important change from the earlier edition to this one [of 1977] is Thomas’s recognition that the Franco military dictatorship was typical for modern Spanish history and that the republic of 1931 to 1936 was the aberration", Stephen Klaidman, The Spanish Civil War By Hugh Thomas, [in:] Washington Post 30.07.1977
  124. ↑ Thomas 1961, pp. 117-124 and 125-130
  125. ↑ Thomas 2012, pp. 189-203
  126. ↑ Thomas 2012, p. 255
  127. ↑ from original 25,000 Republicans and 20,000 Nationalists (Thomas 1961, p. 380) to respectively 10,000 and 6,000 (Thomas 2012, p. 578)
  128. ↑ e.g. fatal victims of the Guernica bombing as reported in the 1961 edition were 1,654. In the 1977 edition they became "one hundred", referred after Burrowes 2016, p. 216. In the 2012 edition they appeared as "perhaps as many as a thousand", Thomas 2012, p. 607
  129. ↑ "There are other philosophical changes, as well, and changes in the assessment of key figures such as republican president Manuel Azaña", Washington Post 30.07.1977
  130. ↑ e.g. initially Thomas, when writing about assassination of José Castillo, noted that "earlier in the year, he had killed the Marquis of Heredia, a Falangist and first cousin of José Antonio, in the riot at the funeral of the member of the Civil Guard" (Thomas 1961, p. 120). Later he changed this to "earlier in the year, in April, he had been in command of the troop of Asaltos responsible for quelling the murderous riots at the funeral of the member of the Civil Guard" (Thomas 1965, p. 169). In the last edition published during his life the sentence has appeared as "earlier in the year, in April, he had been in command, responsible for quelling the riots at the funeral of Lieutenant de los Reyes" (Thomas 2012, p. 196)
  131. ↑ e.g. the killer of Calvo Sotelo in the original version was wrongly identified as "Victoriano Cuenca" (Thomas 1965, p. 171). It was only later that he became "Luis Cuenca" (Thomas 2012, p. 197)
  132. ↑ e.g. first he noted that "Krivitsky’s evidence can generally be accepted, though his details are sometimes wrong", while later he noted that "Krivitsky’s evidence must be regarded as tainted unless corroborated", referred after Burrowes 2016, p. 133
  133. ↑ in initial versions in a footnote Thomas explained that according to his own investigation, the conversation indeed took place. In later versions he was slightly more cautious with "the telephone call seems to have taken place", Thomas 2012, p. 311
  134. ↑ in the 1961 edition Thomas claimed that Gustavo Durán co-engineered the so-called Usera Tunnel Scam. Durán, in 1961 the US citizen, sent Thomas a letter, explained that a certain Casimíro Durán was responsible for the scheme, and accused Thomas of blindly believing the Francoist Causa General. Thomas apologised and in later editions he no longer mentioned Gustavo Durán as related, compare e.g. Javier Juárez, Comandante Durán: Leyenda y tragedia de un intelectual en armas, Madrid 2016, ISBN 9788499927305, p. 214, also Buchanan 2024, p. 189
  135. ↑ originally when providing certain quotation from Durruti Thomas referred after Montreal Star of 30 October 1936, compare AbeBooks service. Later he kept providing the same quotation, but with reference to Toronto Star of 18 August 1936, Thomas 2012, p. 417
  136. ↑ Fernando Samaniego, Hugh Thomas afirma que los orígenes de la guerra civil son difíciles de entender , [in:] El País 22.11.2001, Matt Schudel, Hugh Thomas, historian whose ‘Spanish Civil War’ was smuggled across borders, dies at 85 , [in:] The Washington Post 13.05.2017
  137. ↑ Diario de Burgos 07.02.1967; later sources claimed the man in question was sentenced to 2 years in prison, Lord Thomas of Swynnerton obituary , [in:] The Guardian 09.05.2017
  138. ↑ El Español 06.04.1968
  139. ↑ Burrowes 2016, p. 189
  140. ↑ Rafael Casas de la Vega, Los errores del libro de Hugh Thomas. Dos casos concretos: las batallas de Brunete y Teruel, [in:] Revista de historia militar 24 (1968), pp. 117-137
  141. ↑ Pueblo 20.09.69
  142. ↑ Aragón Expres 20.02.1974
  143. ↑ Mediterraneo 30.05.1974
  144. ↑ Pablo Guimón, Muere Hugh Thomas, el hispanista británico que diseccionó la Guerra Civil , [in:] El País 07.05.2017
  145. ↑ Muere el historiador Hugh Thomas, el británico que diseccionó la Guerra Civil , [in:] El Confidencial 08.05.2017
  146. ↑ Rafael Nuñez Huesca, Diez extranjeros ilustres desmontan la Leyenda Negra antiespañola , [in:] La Gaceta 15.10.2017
  147. ↑ see e.g. Stanley G. Payne, The Spanish Civil War, Cambridge 2012, ISBN 9780521174701, p. 256, Javier Tusell, Historia de España en el siglo XX, vol. 2, Madrid 2007, ISBN 9788430606306, p. 493, Helen Graham, The Spanish Civil War: A Very Short History, London 2005, ISBN 9780192803771, p. 157, Julián Casanova, The Spanish Civil War, London 2017, ISBN 9781350127586, p. 216, Antony Beevor, Walka o Hiszpanię, Kraków 2009, ISBN 9788324011599, p. 601, Juan Eslava Galán, Niewygodna historia hiszpańskiej wojny domowej, Wrocław 2005, ISBN 9788324587674, p. 396, Charles J Esdaile, The Spanish Civil War: A Military History, London 2018, ISBN 9780429859298, p. 377, Francisco Romero Salvadó, Historical Dictionary of the Spanish Civil War, London 2013, ISBN 9780810880092, p. 369
  148. ↑ Bolloten 2015, p. xli
  149. ↑ Esdaile 2018, p. x
  150. ↑ Sanz Gallego 2016, p. 2
  151. ↑ Enrique Moradiellos, La historiografía de la guerra civil española. Una perspectiva valorativa, [in:] Revista de Estudios Extremeños LXVII/II (2011), p. 620
  152. ↑ Peter Gray, Peter W. Gray, Sebastian Cox (eds.), Air Power History Turning Points from Kitty Hawk to Kosovo, London 2002, ISBN 9780714652917, p. 87
  153. ↑ see opinion from American Historical Review, quoted at the Amazon service
  154. ↑ Esdaile 2018, p. x
  155. ↑ see marketing information at GoogleBooks service
  156. ↑ see marketing information at GoodReads service
  157. ↑ see Libros section at La Vanguardia website
  158. ↑ El Pais 16.05.2017
  159. ↑ El País 06.03.2017
  160. ↑ ABC 23.09.2022
  161. ↑ a neo-Republican scholar concluded that with 11 pages dedicated to Nationalist repression and 12 pages to the Republican one , the work merits the name of objective work, Alberto Reig Tapia, Ideología e historia: sobre la represión franquista y la Guerra Civil, Madrid 1986, ISBN 8476000146, p. 50. "Thomas’s critically acclaimed book benefited from the objective tone of his writing. Above all, the British academic did not appear to allow his pro-republican biases to greatly distort his analyses", Bolloten 2015, p.xli, "even-handed treatment", Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing, London 2019, ISBN 9781136787645, p. 1134
  162. ↑ Preston 2017, p. 4
  163. ↑ El País 06.03.2022
  164. ↑ Buchanan 2024, p. 189
  165. ↑ compare Paul Preston, War of words: the Spanish Civil War and the historians, [in:] Paul Preston (ed.), The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, Revolution and Revenge, London 2006, ISBN 9780007232079
  166. ↑ Paul Preston, The historiography of the Spanish Civil War, [in:] Raphael Samuel (ed.), People’s History and Socialist Theory, New York 2016, pp. 193-194
  167. ↑ Payne 2012, p. 169
  168. ↑ Buchanan 2024, p. 193
  169. ↑ reportedly "As a great storyteller, Thomas was drawn ineluctably to a good story". For instance, he devoted almost two pages to the Unamuno’s confrontation and reported it on basis of Unamuno’s disciple, who was not present at the time and is likely to have distorted the facts", Buchanan 2024, p. 190
  170. ↑ Robert Jackson Alexander, The Anarchists in the Spanish Civil War, vol. 1, London 1999, ISBN 9781857564006, pp. 200, 218
  171. ↑ e.g. when referring the early plot of April and May 1936, Thomas claims that "Rodríguez del Barrio, meantime, died, as expected", Thomas 2012, p. 165. In fact, Rodríguez del Barrio died when the war was already in full swing, in November 1936
  172. ↑ Pablo Guimón, Obituary: Hugh Thomas, author of seminal book on the Spanish Civil War, [in:] El País 08.05.2017
  173. ↑ Moradiellos 2011, pp. 595, 620
  174. ↑ Francisco Romero Salvadó, Historical Dictionary of the Spanish Civil War, London 2013, ISBN 9780810880092, p. 369
  175. ↑ Paul Preston, The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, Revolution and Revenge, London 2006, ISBN 9780007232079, p. 339

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