The first major history of the International Brigades: a tale of blood, ideals and tragedy in the fight against fascism
Giles Tremlett is a contributing editor to the Guardian and Fellow of the Cañada Blanch Centre, London School of Economics. He has lived in and written about Spain for over twenty years, and is the author of Catherine of Aragon, Ghosts of Spain and Isabella of Castile, winner of the 2018 Elizabeth Longford Prize. He lives in Madrid with his family.
A narrative of astonishing scope … This latest study is a
remarkable act of scholarship, as well as being captivatingly
readable. The first overarching history of the brigades in English,
it is alive with the testimonies of those who fought, and so much
richer for stretching far beyond the obvious and famous Anglophone
accounts of men of letters … Tremlett is a worthy custodian of
their stories. He has created a dazzling mosaic of vignettes and
sources, of lives lived and lost, of acts of heroism, solidarity,
betrayal and futility, that builds to a grand picture of a conflict
that drew idealists from across the world. The war left many of
them in despair, injured or dead – but also hardened many more in
their determination to defeat fascism. This book is as close to a
definitive history as we are likely to get
*Guardian*
Tremlett’s book marks a heroic episode in the history of the left.
At a time when real fascists with real guns are patrolling the
streets of American cities, and when far-right violence is on the
rise in Spain, the sacrifice of the International Brigaders
deserves to be remembered. In doing so, Tremlett reminds us that
even just wars are dirty and chaotic, breeding grounds of sadism
and injustice, and that the selfless often die first
*Observer*
This evocative study is the first comprehensive history in English
of all the 35,000 international volunteers who fought the combined
forces of Hitler, Mussolini and Franco in Spain … Far more than a
civil war, it was Europe’s war against Fascism. Giles Tremlett
encapsulates its huge stakes perfectly … There’s no feeling of a
heavy read here, such is Tremlett’s deft handling of the material
and page-turning prose. The story races along, replete with
memorable stories and poignant vignettes … [A] gripping book …
Through it, the 1930s come hurtling into our twenty-first century
present
*Literary Review*
A deeply impressive work of scholarship that captures the universal
drama of the Spanish Civil War … Tremlett brings literary verve to
what is the definitive global account of the Brigaders and a moving
epic of fraternity in combat
*New Statesman*
Meticulously researched and engagingly written. Tremlett resurrects
an extraordinary cast of characters … The Brigaders remain heroes
of the left for their internationalism and self-sacrifice. Tremlett
has done them proud
*Economist*
This is a fine, massively detailed monument to a lost cause …
Tremlett has accomplished a tremendous feat
*Telegraph*
The bravery and sacrifices of the volunteers from all over the
world who fought fascism in Spain keep alive interest in the civil
war. Many of the tens of thousands of books about the conflict are
about the International Brigades but there has never been one like
Giles Tremlett’s deeply moving and endlessly informative account.
Bursting with memorable quotes and anecdotes, it provides, in lucid
and compelling prose, the overall history of the Brigades that has
been lacking
*Paul Preston*
Magnificent. Narrative history at its vivid and compelling best
*Fergal Keane*
More than eighty years after the civil war ended on April 1, 1939,
the story of what inspired left-wing sympathisers from all over the
world to fight, and what became of them, still fascinates and
impassions … It is an epic tale and Giles Tremlett’s The
International Brigades nails it with the decisiveness of a
political commissar’s bullet to the back of a deserter’s head.
Using widely trawled research, he has created an electrifying
narrative that brings to life the idealism, suffering, chaos and
paranoia of what a journalist at the time called the “most truly
international army the world has seen since the Crusades” … A
powerful portrayal of an episode underpinned by what Nehru, after
visiting a British unit, called “so much human courage, so much of
what was worthwhile in life"
*The Times*
Tremlett deftly interweaves this rich archival material with
colourful first-hand accounts from numerous participants … A highly
engaging read, helped considerably by the author’s fluid prose
style and journalist’s eye for a good story ... A well-researched
and comprehensive work of scholarship
*Spectator*
Impeccably researched … It’s from within the ranks of those often
poorly armed and untrained individuals from every conceivable walk
of life and corner of the world that the compelling narrative of
this book draws its most vivid accounts … The accounts are searing
… Perhaps one of the most valuable qualities Tremlett brings to
this historical tour de force is a determination not to avoid the
darker side of goings on within the ranks of the Brigades … In our
own troubled political times, with the far right and fascism again
on the rise, there is much that resonates and that we can learn
from this magnificent book
*Herald*
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