"Spain In Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939" by Adam Hochschild

You can hear the undulating pulse of a world headed to global conflict throughout the pages of “Spain In Our Hearts.”

In it Adam Hochschild puts forth a convincing argument that the Spanish Civil War was in essence the prelude for World War II. At the heart of his argument is the rudimentary belief that that this conflict, which

pitted Franco’s fascist state (with more than a little help from Hitler and Mussolini), against Spain’s government.

For most our understanding of the civil war’s three years stems from the writings of George Orwell, Ernest Hemingway and the writings of those who pilots, nurses, doctors and soldiers felt a personal call to fight for Spain.

Until now most of what we’ve understood about the conflict culturally and historically has been shoddy, wrong or simply outdated. Fortunately the stories of those not so famous Americans who left their homes to bring freedom to a faraway land have been saved for posterity thanks to Hochschild’s concise narrative, which has been pieced together from letters, documents and newly available archives.

As Hochschild shrewdly observes, The Spanish Civil War was something new for it’s time, a media event for a thirsty American press looking for sensational stories of bravery and adventure and an opportunity for the Imperial powers of Europe to test their advanced war machines on a broad scale.

Initially most Americans thought the Spanish Civil War was an insignificant cause embraced by leftists and Commies. However as things dragged on and the violence escalated the tenor of alarm, horror and resentment settled into the American public, causing even more Americans to become involved.

It also was an interesting affair in that it was the first modern war covered by writers, journalists and artists who were intimately involved in their subject matter. The battles, skirmishes and massacres left in its wake also left a lasting affect on Picasso, Dorothy Parker, Dashiell Hammett and other intellectuals of the day. 

Eighty years on, the Spanish Civil War remains a convoluted era in time, a moment that is conflicting, confusing and controversial. While its legacy of brutality and bloodlust haunt Spain to this day. For most Americans however, the hostilities remain a lost era whose heroes have toiled in relative obscurity. As a result we’ve never really known of the valor exhibited at home and abroad by ordinary citizens, until now.