Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Looking at the glowing reviews, and the author's' reputation as a military historian, I assumed this would be a useful resource in learning more about the Spanish Civil War. I was wrong. What I dislike about this book is the way Beevor twists the narrative to suit his vision. For example, in his description of the origins of the war, Beevor completely ignores the Popular Front's blatant subversion of the electoral process. If this is the only book you read on the Spanish Civil War, you will believe (no doubt as Beevor intends) that the Popular Front won a majority in a fair and free election. Beevor even produces a contemporary quote to bolster this argument. But this requires Beevor to omit that fact that upon being seated, the narrow Popular Front majority immediately ordered re-votes in areas where the opposition did very well and these elections - which were marred by violence and fraud - resulted in massive gains in Popular Front candidates, giving them a two-thirds majority. It was this new voting bloc that enabled the "parliamentary coup" that ousted President Alcala-Zamora and installed Manuel Azana. Beevor hides this by giving only the vote totals, which relieves him of the burden of explaining how the narrow majority mysteriously grew into one capable of impeachment. Another example: Beevor attributed Spain's poverty and social difficulties not to the burden of a global empire or three centuries of imperial warfare but the Spanish Inquisition! I thought this was a Monty Python joke, but he's serious. How can any historian of Spain overlook the economic dislocation of the treasure fleets, centuries of warfare in Europe and overseas? Is he unaware of the Eighty Years War? The War of the Spanish Succession? The Napoleonic Wars were far more consequential to modern Spain's problems, but Beevor seems obsessed with the Catholic Church. Indeed, at several points he descends into outright bigotry, even claiming that Spain's priests were "otherwise incapable of employment" and that the horrifying mass slaughter of religious orders was justified by events that took place four centuries previously. Beevor has a right to his opinions, but his bigotry has no place in a work of serious history. If you rely on this book as your guide to the Spanish Civil War you will not know the full story, which is far more complex than Beevor is willing to admit.