Speaker Professor Paul Preston
The eminent historian, Professor Paul Preston, is one of the world’s foremost authorities on the Spanish Civil War. He is the author of numerous books on modern Spain, the Spanish Republic, the war and its aftermath. In this talk, Paul will speak about his latest book, ‘Perfidious Albion’: Britain and the Spanish Civil War’ which is published by The Clapton Press. In this collection of essays Paul Preston examines how British foreign policy contributed towards the fall of the Spanish Republic to Franco’s rebel forces; he looks at the solidarity and humanitarian activities among the British left and others in support of the Spanish people and their heroic resistance to Franco; and also how authors like Gerald Brenan and George Orwell shaped attitudes to this critical era in Spanish political history which is often seen as a precursor to the Second World War.
Paul will speak about his work and answer questions on topics addressed in the book.
About the speaker
Paul is School Professor for the Department of International History, at the London School of Economics.
His books include The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 (1986); The triumph of democracy in Spain (1986); Franco: A Biography (1995); Doves of war: four women of Spain (2002); The Spanish Civil War: reaction, revolution and revenge (2006); We saw Spain die: foreign correspondents in the Spanish Civil War (2009); The Spanish holocaust: inquisition and extermination in twentieth-century Spain (2012); and The Last Stalinist: The Life of Santiago Carrillo (2014).
For more about the book