Antony Beevor - The Battle for Spain

This large volume is a study of the first three years of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
I was so impressed by this scholarly work - so well researched and yet so readable. It seems so strange that the Spanish Civil War began only 70 years ago, the events seem almost medieval. Antony Beevor traces the events leading up to the coup that began the Civil War, the inadequacies of the Spanish state in the early twentieth century, the class induced conflicts and the disastrous economic policies of all governments up until the 1930s.
The civil war wasn't entirely Nationalist versus Republican. One of the main reasons for the Republican failure was rooted in the divisions within the Republic side - regionalism against centralism (the Basque Country and Catalonia resisted government from Madrid); Socialism against Communist, and both those against Anarchist.
The book also illustrates how badly western european powers read the situation in Spain, espousing non-intervention whilst turning a blind eye to massive Nazi and Fascist military support for the Nationalists and Soviet involvement on the Republican side. (Soviet involovement turned out to be a mixed blessing both in Spain, and in terms of scaring off international support).
The Spanish Civil War still has resonances within Spain and across Europe, and military rule in Spain could well have continued until the present day had it not been for the accidental good fortune of Franco's bequeathment of the State to King Juan Carlos.
Excellent book - my rating: 8/10