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To Make the People Smile Again : A Memoir of the Spanish Civil War
The autobiographical story of a young wood machinist from London who volunteered and fought with the British Battalion of the 15th International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War. With a foreword by Jack Jones.
- GenresHistorySpanish Civil War
200 pages, Paperback
First published February 24, 2003
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About the author
George M. Wheeler
1 bookLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
George M. Wheeler was an English volunteer in the British Battalion of the 15th International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War.
George M. Wheeler was an English volunteer in the British Battalion of the 15th International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 19, 2012
George Wheeler epitomized the generation of concerned people in the 1930s who chose to actively challenge European fascism by fighting for the Republican government in Spain against Franco during the 1936-39 Civil War there. He left his job as a wood-machinist in London to take up arms with the International Brigades in Spain. The story he tells is a compelling one, which I would recommend to any reader interested in the struggle for social justice in a war-torn society.
July 2, 2018
To Make The People Smile Again (2003, Zymurgy Publishing) is the wonderful memoir of George Wheeler, a Labour Party member and woodworker from Battersea. In 1937, George looked on in disgust as his own government abandoned the free Spanish Republic to be squashed under the boot heels of fascism.
Appalled by British and French adherance to a policy of “non-involvement” while turning a blind eye to Hitler and Mussolini’s direct military support of Franco, he resolved to live by his values and, alongside 2,500 other (overwhelmingly working class) Britons, travelled in secret to Spain to join the International Brigades and fight for the beleaguered Republic.
The story of the International Brigades is one of the finest – yet most tragic – moments of socialist internationalism in human history. Against terrible odds and in the face of constant betrayal these men and women put themselves in the way of great hardship and death itself, knowing that the fight against fascism in Spain was the fight for humanity itself. Despite this, they’ve been mostly left out of the official histories, as their personal heroism and prescience put shame to the cowardice and short sightedness of their mother countries.
George Wheeler travelled to Spain in 1937, and took part in one of the Republic’s final victories, before being capturing during the massive fascist bombing campaign and counter attack that followed. He spent the next several months held in a concentration camp while Britain languidly made efforts to repatriate him and his surviving comrades. The German and Italian brigaders were not so lucky, and most met terrible ends at the hand of either the fascists in Spain, or the ones waiting for them back home.
His short memoir of this experience is fascinating and thrilling in equal measure, and burns with such vibrant optimism and humanity that its hard not to be moved. Despite suffering, betrayal and defeat, the memoir is surprisingly free of bitterness – what shines through instead is his inspiring faith in human goodness, justice and freedom, which no amount of mud, blood or misery could darken in him.
Appalled by British and French adherance to a policy of “non-involvement” while turning a blind eye to Hitler and Mussolini’s direct military support of Franco, he resolved to live by his values and, alongside 2,500 other (overwhelmingly working class) Britons, travelled in secret to Spain to join the International Brigades and fight for the beleaguered Republic.
The story of the International Brigades is one of the finest – yet most tragic – moments of socialist internationalism in human history. Against terrible odds and in the face of constant betrayal these men and women put themselves in the way of great hardship and death itself, knowing that the fight against fascism in Spain was the fight for humanity itself. Despite this, they’ve been mostly left out of the official histories, as their personal heroism and prescience put shame to the cowardice and short sightedness of their mother countries.
George Wheeler travelled to Spain in 1937, and took part in one of the Republic’s final victories, before being capturing during the massive fascist bombing campaign and counter attack that followed. He spent the next several months held in a concentration camp while Britain languidly made efforts to repatriate him and his surviving comrades. The German and Italian brigaders were not so lucky, and most met terrible ends at the hand of either the fascists in Spain, or the ones waiting for them back home.
His short memoir of this experience is fascinating and thrilling in equal measure, and burns with such vibrant optimism and humanity that its hard not to be moved. Despite suffering, betrayal and defeat, the memoir is surprisingly free of bitterness – what shines through instead is his inspiring faith in human goodness, justice and freedom, which no amount of mud, blood or misery could darken in him.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews