Insurrection: The Bloody Events of May 1937 in Barcelona

by Agustín Guillamón, Paul Sharkey (Translator)

In May, 1937, one of the most advanced revolutions in modern history was defeated. In Insurrection, Agustín Guillamón explains how Stalinist counterrevolution and republican reformism disarmed the threat of the anarchist working class in the Spanish Revolution. While anarchist “leadership” flailed, the defense committees were weakened, which allowed bourgeois institutions to gain power and strengthened the republican state. Using new information gathered from archives and interviews, Guillamón tackles some of the most vexing questions about the Spanish Civil War, retelling the story George Orwell recounted but failed to fully understand in Homage to Catalonia.

Genres: Spanish Civil War, History, War, Politics

450 pages, Paperback

Published November 10, 2020

Reviews

[Rory · Rating 5 out of 5]

400 pages filled with the minutes of every important meeting and phone call from March 1937 to May 1937, interspersed with the authors opinions (helpfully highlighted in bold). Great stuff.