Unlikely Warriors: The British in the Spanish Civil War and the Struggle Against Fascism (Book) Review
RRP: 25.00
Publisher: Aurum Press Ltd
Author: Richard Baxell
Type: Hardback
ISBN: 978-1845136970
Pages: 400
Buy Unlikely Warriors: The British in the Spanish Civil War and the Struggle Against Fascism from Amazon
When a nationalist military uprising was launched in Spain in July 1936, the Spanish Republic's desperate pleas for assistance from the leaders of Britain and France fell on deaf ears. Yet help did come, in the form of thousand's of brave men and women from around the world who rallied in an attempt to defend the Spanish democratic government against the military rising of General Franco and his German and Italian backers.
Richard Baxwell's knowledge of this subject gives an impressive new angle of the brutal Civil War. Unlikely Warriors has been thoroughly researched and luminously written to make it an easy to read informative book.
Baxwell has used unpublished memoirs and personal interviews from the survivors to tell the story in their own words. The volunteers left behind their families and modest working class backgrounds to fight on foreign soil. Having a one in five chance of being killed, 500 of these heroes never returned home.
Unlikely Warriors gives awareness of what these 2500 volunteers experienced in 1936. The way it is written gives the reader a feeling of pride and respect for these men and women. Baxwell has also included some humorous passages to make it an enjoyable and satisfying read. Highly recommended.
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