What do you think?
Rate this book
Long Live Death: The Keys to Victory in the Spanish Civil War
Few wars are more shrouded in myth than the Spanish Civil War. For decades, histories have focused on politics at the expense of studying the military lessons of this pivotal conflict. This book provides a welcome addition to the growing body of work that examines the war as a military rather than political event.
Author A.H. Lloyd goes beyond a description of the campaigns to explain why it unfolded the way it did. Drawing upon more than a decade of experience as a military planner and utilizing his formidable storytelling skills, he has created a compelling yet accessible work that explores the conflict like never before.
A detailed chronology helps outline the course of events and also includes developments outside of Spain, which are necessary to understanding the ebb and flow of foreign aid and influence. Clear maps provide a visual representation of the changes of territorial control and the courses of the various offensives. The book also includes a short illustrated guide to the tanks and aircraft involved, providing the reader with additional understanding of how emerging technologies shaped the conflict.
As part of his wide-ranging analysis, the author is perhaps the first historian to develop a methodology that explains Franco's strategic thinking, and how many of his decisions that have been widely condemned are simply misunderstood. Franco's shrewd but cautious strategy is contrasted with the Republican leadership's many failures, and the book chronicles how the Republic squandered its many advantages and thereby lost the war.
The author also explains how the Republic might have won, what the victory could have looked like, and how it would have shifted the balance of power in Europe. Would a Red Spain have forced an uneasy alliance between Nazi Germany and Great Britain?
Long Live Death provides a new way of understanding the Spanish Civil War, making it important to dedicated historians as well as casual readers wishing to learn more about the topic.
Author A.H. Lloyd goes beyond a description of the campaigns to explain why it unfolded the way it did. Drawing upon more than a decade of experience as a military planner and utilizing his formidable storytelling skills, he has created a compelling yet accessible work that explores the conflict like never before.
A detailed chronology helps outline the course of events and also includes developments outside of Spain, which are necessary to understanding the ebb and flow of foreign aid and influence. Clear maps provide a visual representation of the changes of territorial control and the courses of the various offensives. The book also includes a short illustrated guide to the tanks and aircraft involved, providing the reader with additional understanding of how emerging technologies shaped the conflict.
As part of his wide-ranging analysis, the author is perhaps the first historian to develop a methodology that explains Franco's strategic thinking, and how many of his decisions that have been widely condemned are simply misunderstood. Franco's shrewd but cautious strategy is contrasted with the Republican leadership's many failures, and the book chronicles how the Republic squandered its many advantages and thereby lost the war.
The author also explains how the Republic might have won, what the victory could have looked like, and how it would have shifted the balance of power in Europe. Would a Red Spain have forced an uneasy alliance between Nazi Germany and Great Britain?
Long Live Death provides a new way of understanding the Spanish Civil War, making it important to dedicated historians as well as casual readers wishing to learn more about the topic.
249 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 19, 2020
15 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 16, 2021
Firstly, I think this is the best short history of the Spanish Civil War that I've ever read. If your interests are more towards the military side of history rather than social or economic, then this book will interest you. All that many people know about this war is what they read in "For Whom the Bell Tolls". Even for non-military history types this book gives a very clear account of what happened.
Pros
1. The author makes an excellent attempt at being balanced. This, as the author points out, is rather rare. Most books take a definite side, generally for the Republic, and slant in that direction.
2. The back story on how war came to Spain so easily is brief but very well presented.
3. The appendix on armor and aircraft is nicely brief and informative. All too often in military histories the descriptions and discussions of various pieces of equipment are fine for antiquarians but just slow down the flow and don't add much to the work. The author in this case has hit the high points and kept it very relevant.
4. The author does a very good job of detailing the amount and effect of the foreign intervention in the war. Too often histories are written in isolation without showing how external politics and events have outsize influence on the internal events.
5. The author's descriptions of the various battles/campaigns are generally short and to the point without excessive detail. This makes for a fast read which is still very informative.
Cons.
1. As others have pointed out there just aren't any really good maps. For people not familiar with Spain and more importantly the roads/terrain this leaves a void. I'm not saying you need a topo map of Basque country but a little relief might make things clearer.
2. The author's attempt at balance has a major flaw. There are some specific references made to Republican atrocities but not Nationalist ones. Generally the author just refers to what was being done on both sides. My guess is that after reading numerous books which go into lots of detail about Nationalist atrocities, the author just assumes "everybody knows that". I've read some of those so I'm aware of them. However, by not including them it does make the book look slanted toward the Nationalist side.
3. The self destructive infighting on Republican side is not well described. More details on how this actually destroyed military capability, even whole units, would help. This may again be an example of "everybody knows that".
So overall I would recommend this book. It's basically fair and a fast read. There aren't a lot of books on this subject and this one is worth reading.
Pros
1. The author makes an excellent attempt at being balanced. This, as the author points out, is rather rare. Most books take a definite side, generally for the Republic, and slant in that direction.
2. The back story on how war came to Spain so easily is brief but very well presented.
3. The appendix on armor and aircraft is nicely brief and informative. All too often in military histories the descriptions and discussions of various pieces of equipment are fine for antiquarians but just slow down the flow and don't add much to the work. The author in this case has hit the high points and kept it very relevant.
4. The author does a very good job of detailing the amount and effect of the foreign intervention in the war. Too often histories are written in isolation without showing how external politics and events have outsize influence on the internal events.
5. The author's descriptions of the various battles/campaigns are generally short and to the point without excessive detail. This makes for a fast read which is still very informative.
Cons.
1. As others have pointed out there just aren't any really good maps. For people not familiar with Spain and more importantly the roads/terrain this leaves a void. I'm not saying you need a topo map of Basque country but a little relief might make things clearer.
2. The author's attempt at balance has a major flaw. There are some specific references made to Republican atrocities but not Nationalist ones. Generally the author just refers to what was being done on both sides. My guess is that after reading numerous books which go into lots of detail about Nationalist atrocities, the author just assumes "everybody knows that". I've read some of those so I'm aware of them. However, by not including them it does make the book look slanted toward the Nationalist side.
3. The self destructive infighting on Republican side is not well described. More details on how this actually destroyed military capability, even whole units, would help. This may again be an example of "everybody knows that".
So overall I would recommend this book. It's basically fair and a fast read. There aren't a lot of books on this subject and this one is worth reading.
May 13, 2021
This is a military history of the Spanish Civil War. It intentionally does not give much attention to non-military matters, such as the bloodbath of infighting among the alphabet soup of parties on the leftist Republican side. The author appears to have some military experience, unlike many other historians of the war, which informs his analysis of events.
It is not meant as an introductory or comprehensive work, and it should not be the first book someone reads on the subject. For that, it would be better to start with Stanley G. Payne’s The Spanish Civil War, nearly the only balanced historical overview. A.H. Lloyd's book appears more intended as a critique and rebuttal of some of the myth-making and distortion of other widely-read histories, such as those of Beevor and Thomas, almost all of which are strongly biased in favour of the Republicans. It succeeds in that goal. As many have noted, the Spanish Civil War was one of the few examples where the losers wrote the history, and this book is a welcome addition to the historical literature that debunks a lot of leftist spin. When it comes to having the last word about the history of the Spanish Civil War, A.H. Lloyd isn't willing to "Leave it to Beevor".
It is essential to include good maps as part of such a military history, and the minimal flat outline maps provided are thoughtfully placed within the book to keep pace with events, but important locations in the text are not shown on the maps, which is a significant oversight. If something is referenced in the text, often repeatedly (Ebro River, Guernica, many more), it needs to be shown on at least one map. Some indication of the topography, wherever it is relevant, should also be shown - the Pyrenees Mountains are not just an arbitrary line on a map. Many military historians have done better; Tolkien provided better topo maps of his fictional Middle-earth. This book's maps' lack of information about what constituted the "high ground", or major features such as roads, rivers, provinces and other locations of strategic importance, is a serious deficiency which could be readily improved in an updated edition.
Unfortunately, there are also an excessive and distracting number of proofreading errors in the Kindle edition I bought in May 2021. There are enough that they really interrupt the flow of the book. Kindle has (or had) a “report error” feature, and I would have used it (at least until I got tired of so many), but it seems to have been disabled in this book.
It is not meant as an introductory or comprehensive work, and it should not be the first book someone reads on the subject. For that, it would be better to start with Stanley G. Payne’s The Spanish Civil War, nearly the only balanced historical overview. A.H. Lloyd's book appears more intended as a critique and rebuttal of some of the myth-making and distortion of other widely-read histories, such as those of Beevor and Thomas, almost all of which are strongly biased in favour of the Republicans. It succeeds in that goal. As many have noted, the Spanish Civil War was one of the few examples where the losers wrote the history, and this book is a welcome addition to the historical literature that debunks a lot of leftist spin. When it comes to having the last word about the history of the Spanish Civil War, A.H. Lloyd isn't willing to "Leave it to Beevor".
It is essential to include good maps as part of such a military history, and the minimal flat outline maps provided are thoughtfully placed within the book to keep pace with events, but important locations in the text are not shown on the maps, which is a significant oversight. If something is referenced in the text, often repeatedly (Ebro River, Guernica, many more), it needs to be shown on at least one map. Some indication of the topography, wherever it is relevant, should also be shown - the Pyrenees Mountains are not just an arbitrary line on a map. Many military historians have done better; Tolkien provided better topo maps of his fictional Middle-earth. This book's maps' lack of information about what constituted the "high ground", or major features such as roads, rivers, provinces and other locations of strategic importance, is a serious deficiency which could be readily improved in an updated edition.
Unfortunately, there are also an excessive and distracting number of proofreading errors in the Kindle edition I bought in May 2021. There are enough that they really interrupt the flow of the book. Kindle has (or had) a “report error” feature, and I would have used it (at least until I got tired of so many), but it seems to have been disabled in this book.
November 16, 2021
A fascinating and realistic look at the war that shaped Twentieth century Spain.
A.H. Lloyd moves things along quite well and the accompanying book recommendations are an excellent addition to the work.
A.H. Lloyd moves things along quite well and the accompanying book recommendations are an excellent addition to the work.
February 23, 2023
an excellent concise history
This is the best book I’ve read on the Spanish Civil War. Previous books left me feeling that the war was just an endless series of pointless battles. Lloyd made the war understandable. Anyone interested in the war should absolutely read this book.
This is the best book I’ve read on the Spanish Civil War. Previous books left me feeling that the war was just an endless series of pointless battles. Lloyd made the war understandable. Anyone interested in the war should absolutely read this book.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews