The bard pays homage to his two muses: his wife and his football club
Many words for solidarity
SYLVIA HIKINS is moved by a comprehensive anthology of the literature that emerged from the International Brigades
Members of the International Brigade in the British cookhouse at Albacete raise their fists in the Communist salute.
[Vera Elkan/CC]
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by an incoherent show that fails to question stereotypical assumptions about the Soviet Union
JOHN McINALLY welcomes a rigorous class analysis of the history and exploitation of sectarianism by the Scottish ruling elite
WILL STONE, JAMES WALSH and MARIA DUARTE review Souleymane’s Story, Sunlight, Good Fortune, and After The Hunt
ALEX HALL recommends an exhaustive investigation of the means by which the Starmer faction assassinated the left
DAVID MORGAN recommends a refreshingly inspiring novel that features encounters with some tremendous women
Remembering Spain - Essays, Memoirs and Poems on the International Brigades and the Spanish Civil War
Edited by Joshua Newmark, The Clapton Press, £17
BETWEEN 1936 and 1939 approximately 2,500 men and women from Britain and Northern Ireland served in the International Brigades, a force made up of anti-fascist volunteers who fought for the Spanish Second Republic during the Spanish Civil War, in an expression of international solidarity with the Spanish people’s struggle and a supreme effort to stop the spread of fascism.
The majority of British volunteers came from working-class backgrounds and had taken part in hunger marches, protests like the Kinder Scout Trespass, and activities aimed at bringing about political and social change. This was a Britain where for many the living conditions were grim, poverty rampant, and unemployment the norm.
The Brigade was truly international, with 35,000 volunteers heading for Spain from 52 countries. With Hitler and Mussolini already in power in Germany and Italy, they feared the fall of Spain would threaten the future of democracy in Europe and lead to another world war.
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JIM JUMP looks forward to the International Brigade Memorial Trust AGM taking place in Belfast later this week where the spirit of solidarity will be rekindled
LYNNE WALSH reports from last weekend’s moving remembrance of the International Brigades in London’s Jubilee Gardens where anti-fascists gathered to hear how even in the darkest of times we can build a vision of a better tomorrow, as the Brigaders fought to do 89 years ago
LYNNE WALSH tells the story of the extraordinary race against time to ensure London’s memorial to the International Brigades got built – as activists gather next week to celebrate the monument’s 40th anniversary
JACK YOUD explains why local activists and trade unionists are raising funds to honour the city’s volunteers who fought for liberty in Spain