Author Archive for Paul Preston

Never More Alive: Kate Mangan’s Spanish Memoir

February 4, 2021
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Never More Alive: Kate Mangan’s Spanish Memoir

One of the most compelling first-person accounts in English from the Spanish Civil War languished in the archives for more than 80 years. Artist and model Kate Mangan (1904-77) was a keen observer of character with a sharp nib on her pen. After traveling to Spain in 1936 in search of her lover, Jan...
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Violence against Women in the Spanish Civil War

August 23, 2018
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Violence against Women in the Spanish Civil War

The following text is based on Paul Preston’s introduction to the Spanish re-edition of Ramón Sender-Barayón’s A Death in Zamora (Postmetrópolis, 2018), in which the son of Ramón J. Sender and Amparo Barayón investigates the circumstances of his mother’s death three months after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.
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Spain and Syria: Beyond Superficial Comparisons

June 10, 2016
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Spain and Syria: Beyond Superficial Comparisons

There are numerous comparisons that can be made between the conflict in Syria and the Spanish Civil War. Both conflicts feature a ruthless dictator, appalling loss of life, war crimes and the massive displacement of tens of thousands of refugees. However, such superficial comparisons apply to many other conflicts. Merely in terms of...
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The politics of Spanish resistance: Carrillo in France, 1944

December 17, 2014
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The politics of Spanish resistance: Carrillo in France, 1944

Paul Preston’s new biography of Santiago Carrillo, the legendary Spanish Communist leader, stirred up serious controversy when it came out in Spain last year. In this exclusive excerpt, Preston recounts Carrillo's involvement in the 1944 attempt to invade Spain from France.
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Sneak Preview: Paul Preston on the Spanish Holocaust

September 18, 2011
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Sneak Preview: Paul Preston on the Spanish Holocaust

Behind the lines during the Spanish Civil War, nearly two hundred thousand men and women were murdered extra-judicially or executed after flimsy legal process. They were killed as a result of the military coup of 17-18 July 1936 against the Second Republic. For the same reason, at least three hundred thousand men...
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