[.ca] Fighting For Franco: International Volunteers in ... (ISBN 1852855932)

A readable look at a fascinating topic.:
The author is a highly respected historian writing about a field that is getting increasingly more interest. Using a winning combination of excellently-researched historical summary and anecdotes about individuals, Dr. Keene narrates an engrossing chapter in the development of fascism in the twentieth century.

Solid history, but highly readable.:
I ordered this book because I was researching the fortunes of the Irish Brigade in Spain. I was expecting to get the factual information presented in the usual dry historical format. I was so pleasantly surprised with the relaxed narrative, that I read further into the book, and became captivated by the stories of other groups who fought for Franco. In the first twenty or so pages Keene gives an introduction and historical context to the war that serves as a neat summary for anyone wanting to know a little about the subject. Then she goes into the detail of various volunteer groups who fought on the Nationalist side during the war. Because she is looking at volunteer outfits, Keene does not include the major foreign contributors to Franco's Campaign. For instance, she is not writing about the German, Italian and Moroccan contingents. The key groups of volunteers are dealt with in separate chapters. One for the English speaking volunteers which includes information on Americans, British and the Irish Brigade. Then she examines the French contribution. Another chapter examines the contribution of the White Russians, and finally the Romanian Iron Guard. She also includes a chapter on foreign female reporters, publicists and medical personnel who supported the Nationalist cause. Franco was careful to downplay the role of foreigners in the Civil War, and Keene highlights his caution in this regard. He made much of the volunteer forces because they were generally small and symbolic of the wider Catholic support for his cause. He was most careful not to publicise the huge levels of support he received from Axis countries and the Moroccans, as he was trying to portray the struggle as a new Spanish Crusade, rather than as a battle between fascism and communism. In all, this is an intelligently researched and well written look at a very interesting subject.