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Paul Preston
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We Saw Spain Die: Foreign Correspondents in the Spanish Civil War Hardcover – September 1, 2009

by Paul Preston (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 44 ratings
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From 1936 to 1939, the eyes of the world were fixed on the devastating Spanish conflict that drew both professional war correspondents and great writers. Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, Josephine Herbst, Martha Gellhorn, W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender, Kim Philby, George Orwell, Arthur Koestler, Cyril Connolly, André Malraux, Antoine de Saint Exupéry, and others wrote eloquently about the horrors they saw firsthand.


Together, with many great and now largely forgotten journalists, they put their lives on the line, discarding professionally dispassionate approaches and keenly espousing the cause of the partisans. Facing censorship, they fought to expose the complacency with which the decision-makers of the West were appeasing Hitler and Mussolini. Many campaigned for the lifting of non-intervention, revealing the extent to which the Spanish Republic had been betrayed. Peter Preston’s exhilarating account illuminates the moment when war correspondence came of age.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    448 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Skyhorse Publishing
  4. Publication date
    September 1, 2009
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 6.5 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1602397678
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1602397675
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Paul Preston has huge factual expertise and range.” (Financial Times)

“This testament to their testimony could not have been supplied by a more erudite expert. Preston is a peerless historian of Spain, and the only one who writes as readably as a professional journalist.” (The Independent)

“[A] scholarly analysis of the influence of various journalists on the public perception of the Spanish civil war.” (Maria C. Bagshaw - Library Journal)

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Skyhorse Publishing; First Edition (September 1, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 448 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1602397678
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1602397675
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.82 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 6.5 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 44 ratings

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Paul Preston

Paul Preston

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
44 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent service!
Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2019
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Emgeecee
4.0 out of 5 stars The Popular Front at the Front
Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2009
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It is a testament to Hemingway's enduring reputation as a reporter of the Spanish Civil War, as well as his enduring saleability, that his photograph, a striking comrade-in-arms pose, should appear on the front cover of Paul Preston's new book "We Saw Spain Die." The book itself is an homage to the cadre of foreign correspondents, most of them ideologically allied with the Popular Front and the republican cause, who reported on the civil war in Spain from 1936-39.

In the opening chapters Preston vividly reconstructs the milieu of war-torn Madrid and introduces the reader to the glittering array of writers who populated the city. There are anecdotes aplenty about love, jealousy, infidelity, ambition, friendship, and disillusionment. Preston devotes an argumentative chapter to the well-known breakup of Hemingway and Dos Passos, a subject on which, Preston acknowledges, a river of ink has flowed over the ensuing decades. The rift between the two literary titans was created when secret policemen, likely under control of the NKVD, arrested and executed Jose Robles, Dos Passos's friend, without a trial. For Preston the unpalatable truth is that Robles was a "bad egg," a fifth columnist who betrayed the Republic. The truth of this matter may never be known, but the reader is cautioned that Preston's unqualified support throughout the book for the Spanish left and the communists colors his interpretation of events.

The centerpiece of the book, literally and figuratively, is a biography of the "Pravda" correspondent Mikhail Koltsov. The literary output of Koltsov is largely unknown to the English speaking world. Copies of his war memoir, "Spanish Diary" (1938), are rarely encountered, and only a few of his multitude short stories, satires, and essays have been translated into English. Preston's sketch of Koltsov's life and death is a welcome addition to our knowledge of this nearly forgotten man and his role in Stalin's foreign policy.

Relying on material from former Soviet archives and new research, Preston is able to reconstruct Koltsov's actions in Spain and to provide fresh insights into his later arrest and execution by Stalin's secret police. Of particular interest is Preston's critical reading of the "Spanish Diary" and his attempt to unravel the identity of Miguel Martinez, a mysterious character who plays a central role in the book. His conclusion is that the character is a composite portrait, one part Russian General Gorev, one part NKVD agent Iosef Grigulevich, and one part Koltsov himself. Preston's treatment of Koltsov is nuanced but does gloss over the unsavory side of his character, for example the black propaganda he wrote for "Pravda." In the end the reader is left to decide for himself whether Koltsov was a cynical, sycophantic "gasbag," like his onetime mentor Karl Radek, whom he followed into Lubyanka's cellar, or whether he was an heroic anti-fascist. Despite his evident courage and formidable literary gifts, the record of Koltsov's life suggests he was equal parts the former and the latter.

Readers willing to dig through the chatty gossip that informs the opening chapters will be rewarded with nuggets at the end. Preston's chapters on some of the lesser known and less glamorous correspondents--Jay Allen, George Steer and Herbert Southworth-- are enlightening and worth reading. For these men, the Spanish cause was not, as it was for so many others, an intellectual night's lodging. Their life stories are inspirational and compelling.
17 people found this helpful
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Stephen
2.0 out of 5 stars A disappointing and polemical book
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2016
A very disappointing book. Paul Preston has done a great job of gathering newly discovered info on the Spanish Civil War and I was really looking forward to this book. However, it reads more like a polemic than a geniune attempt at history. I for one do not doubt the horrors perpetrated by Franco and his colonial troops, nor the murderous destruction of Guernica, however, Preston deftly overlooks the atrocities commited by the Left; One gets the impression that they were regrettable but understandble, rather than genuine crimes against humanity. The bile and vitriol against any conservative journalists or other characters is almost comical: mention of every conservative journalist/newspaper is always prefaced with the words "feriously" or "furiously" right wing, while left-wing journalists/publications are given a pass. A good example of this is Walter Duranty. He is mentioned but there is no mention of his grotesque omissions of the Ukrainian famines or his sycophantic adoration of Stalin. There is also constant reference to the idealism and wonderful memories of the left-wingers - an automatic assumption of the rightness of their cause. Again, I stress that none of this takes away from the horror of the crimes committed by Franco, and the fact that some of his subordinates such as Quiepo de Llano and Millan Astray were deranged psychopaths; however, the whitewashing of the left is absurd and unprofessional in a historian. To conclude, this is a great missed opportunity to write a balanced history of a fascinating subject. It belongs more to the great left-wing mythology of this horrible conflict: brave and freedom loving left-wingers set up a paradise on Earth which is stolen by those nasty, nasty right wingers. It also conflicts with the increasingly authoritative view first expressed by Orwell, that Spain would have ended up in a nasty dictatorship whoever had won and that Franco may have been the lesser evil. A great disappointment!
3 people found this helpful
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JYK
3.0 out of 5 stars More about the correspondents than what they witnessed
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2012
I really enjoyed Professor Preston's latest book, 'The Spanish Holocaust', so when I saw this book in the library, I eagerly picked it up. I guess I misunderstood, because the book is about the correspondents and their actions than what they witnessed during the Spanish Civil War. What I sought were various eyewitness accounts of the Spanish Civil War from the correspondents' perspective. What I got was an account of their actions especially relating to the Soviet Union. I don't think I am the target audience for this book.
2 people found this helpful
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Keir Derek E. Gray
2.0 out of 5 stars Ludicrously Biased
Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2010
For anyone who has read Preston's biography of Franco, the contents of this book, "We Saw Spain Die", should come as no surprise. Like William Shirer before him, Preston purports to write history but is actually engaged in editorial and polemic. The title alone indicates he intends to show nothing positive about the "Nationalist" side of the Spanish Civil War, nor write about the correspondents who found virtue, heroism, or validity in it. Republican attrocities are dismissed as due to historical forces, such as the pent up rage of the masses against the evil Catholic Church. Tellingly, Preston early on quotes Martha Gellhorn as not caring about "all that objectivity s**t" and arguing that being horribly biased certainly wouldn't effect her reporting.
I gave this book two stars because if nothing else it shows how media bias is blatant, obvious, and unrelenting.
15 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Steve Webb
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant historical account.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 17, 2020
Verified Purchase
Like all of this authors accounts of the Spanish civil war, this is a well researched and very interesting account of how this important 20th century conflict was reported, lots of interesting characters, some flamboyant, some risk takers and some who followed personal or political ideologies in their reporting, if you like spain and if you like modern history then read this book, his writing style is sometimes a bit "dry" but I really enjoy his books.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on October 21, 2015
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Great Read
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Stewart Lawson
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Account of Journalistic Experiences in the Spanish Civil War
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 19, 2018
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As is always the case with Paul Preston's analysis of the Spanish Civil War the work is detailed , critically analytical and filled with anecdotal evidence that presents a representation of the factual and emotional experiences of what it was like to be involved in Spain at this time. He also demonstrates empathy for those who suffered largely at the behest of the bestial activities of Franco and the Africanistas and the Falange.
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Carlos I. Prieto Campo
5.0 out of 5 stars good service
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 11, 2020
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good copy and punctual delivery
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ste ruscoe
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 18, 2015
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a well writted engrosing read
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