Giles Tremlett

The edge of a barber's razor -- Secretos a voces -- Looking for the generalisimo -- Amnisita and amnesia: the pact of forgetting -- How the bikini saved Spain -- Anarchy, order and a real pair of balls -- The mean streets of Flamenco -- Clubs and curas -- Men and children first -- II-M: Moros y Cristianos -- In the shadow of the serpent and the axe -- The madness of Verdaguer -- Coffins, Celts and clothes -- Moderns and ruins.

Shows just how far ordinary people will go to save democracy against overwhelming odds in a tale of European solidarity that resonates just as strongly today. "The Spanish Civil War was the first armed battle in the fight against fascism, and a rallying cry for a generation. Over 35,000 volunteers from fifty-two countries around the world came to defend democracy against the troops of Franco, Hitler, and Mussolini. Ill-equipped and disorderly, yet...