Spaniards were long kept in the dark about their complicated history: first, because Franco’s one-sided version was the only one taught until after he died in 1975. After that, as part of Spain’s transition to democracy, the government enacted a “pact of forgetting,” hoping it would help the country move on from its painful past.
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Books By and About Canadians in the Spanish Civil War
For those intrigued by Jim Higgins’ memoir, Fighting for Democracy, and who want to learn more, have a skip through this list of books by and about Canadians in the Spanish Civil War.
I’ll bet there’s at least one that piques your interest. Cooped up Covid hostages with low budgets will be entertained by the free one from Athabasca University Press.
Continue reading“Seasonable Greetings!”
Moving. Gripping. Inspiring. These are just some of the descriptors I’ve heard from strangers who’ve read “Fighting for Democracy.” Friends have jumped in, too; some of whom wouldn’t normally read a book like this.
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Book Review: Renegades: Canadians in the Spanish Civil War by Michael Petrou, UBC Press, 2008
Renegades: Canadians in the Spanish Civil War is an essential read for anyone interested in why hundreds of Canadians would volunteer to fight in a distant foreign war and why Canada passed (largely ineffective) legislation to prevent them from going.
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A Rival for Norman Bethune?
Edward Cecil-Smith was commander of Canada’s Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Other than his battle reports, that’s about all we’ve known. Oh, other than the gossipy (slanderous?) bit about him deserting his troops. It’s bare bones, one dimensional and some would say, unjust.
Tyler Wentzell’s biography, Not for King or Country, puts flesh on those bones, lays the gossip to rest with facts (leaving it for the reader to decide), and fills a void in the history of Canadians—known as Mac-Paps—who volunteered to fight in Spain’s civil war.
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