This is a guide to Barcelona in the Spanish Civil War, beginning in the 19th century with the conditions and movements which led to the social revolution of 1936, and ending with the fall of the city on 26 January 1939 when Franco's tanks drove down the Diagonal and set about destroying everything the Republic and the revolutionaries had built. Stories from the aftermath of the war, the exile and the Franco regime are also included. In addition with dealing with the more obvious issues such as anarchism, the Spanish Republic, Catalonia, George Orwell, the aerial bombing, and the May Days, etc, the book also looks at themes such as the People's Olympiad, the American Sixth Fleet in the city, Barça, urbanism, Nazis in Barcelona, Robert Capa, the Spanish in the Holocaust, poster art... Intertwined in the text are contemporary quotes and a few personal accounts of people who experienced the war or its aftermath. There are also biographies of figures such as Salvador Seguí, Ramón Mercader, Andreu Nin, Francesc Boix and Lluís Companys.The book is divided into two main sections: a history of the war from the perspective of Barcelona, followed by a guide to related sites which have often been included as an excuse to tell stories or illustrate wider issues. The book ends with an extensive glossary.Nick Lloyd has been running Spanish Civil War tours in Barcelona since 2009.REVIEWS: The Volunteer: Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA)"This is a wonderful hybrid of a book. The text tells much about Barcelona and the Spanish Civil War and much else mostly about the radical history of the city. But its other purpose is to be a companion while one is in Barcelona itself to provide information and illumination about the city's terrible, dramatic, and heroic Civil War history." Military History Book Review"Nick Lloyd has produced a brilliant account of a fascinating city and an even more fascinating period of political and social upheaval"
Nick Lloyd has lived in Barcelona since 1991 and has been running Spanish Civil Wars in the city since 2010. "I first became interested in the working class history of my neighbourhood of Poble Sec which eventually drew me back to Orwell and the war. I started doing the tours in 2010. I honestly never get tired of doing the same tours again and again because I get so many interesting people turning up, who assail me with streams of great questions, some of which I have no idea about and so I have to go home and research them. And so, although the physical routes we take are always very similar, it always goes off in odd directions in terms of topics. This is also because people come from many different backgrounds and countries and so often look at the war from the prism of their own countries (say, art and photography, the International Brigades, other conflicts such as the Greek and Finnish Civil Wars and WW2, the Holocaust, etc). People come from many different walks of life (university professors, artists, journalists, film makers, factory workers, history teachers and students, US marines, lawyers, etc) from almost 60 countries (UK and US first but also Albania, Egypt, Iran and China). They have widely differing levels of knowledge from experts in their field of the war to absolutely zero. A number of people are brought by some family connection (International Brigades, Popular Olympiad, Spanish Diaspora). Declared prior interests of clients include Orwell, anarchism, women's history, photography and the Spanish Civil War as a prelude to WW2. I tell people I think what we're doing is only on the edge of being tourism. There is debate, at times it seems we are discussing the whole history of the 20th century, rather than that of one city. People invariably also want to talk about the politics of today."
