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GORDON PARSONS recommends an entertaining account of the years between Germany’s defeat in WWI and Hitler’s seizure of power
Revelatory readings of the Spanish civil war
Paul Simon reviews ¡No Pasaran! by Pete Ayrton
MIGUEL YOSHIDA explains the evolution and influence of the Cuban Casa De Las Americas in joining culture to the revolutionary struggle
ANDY HEDGECOCK is charmed by a skilful adaptation of Tove Jansson’s lyrical portrait of three generations of a family, overcoming grief
ALEX HALL treads warily through a messy, dialectical struggle fought in the mundane machinery of driving licences, criminal law, and birth registries
MICHAL BONCZA, FIONA O’CONNOR, JAMES WALSH and ANGUS REID review Atlas of Disappearance, Love Me Tender, Bouchra, and This Tempting Madness
Flitting between myth and the modern world, Medusa is determined to steer clear of human affairs. When her resolve crumbles, the result is petrifying in every sense
¡No Pasaran! Writings from the Spanish Civil War by Pete Ayrton (Serpent’s Tail, £20)
SELECTED and introduced by Serpent’s Tail’s founder Pete Ayrton, ¡No Pasaran! offers something outside of the ordinary.
Ayrton — rightly — contends that the English public’s understanding of the war is too tightly constrained by that of a handful Anglo-Saxon commentators. Without eschewing contributions from George Orwell, Ernest Hemingway and Lee and Esmond Romilly, he and his collective of translators express the previously half-hidden or totally ignored voices of writers from Spain and other countries in this collection of memoirs and fictionalised accounts.
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SUE TURNER recommends a rich and varied selection of the letters, diaries and memoirs of British volunteers
![Richard Baxell speaking at the Marx Memorial Library in London [Pic: Karl Weiss]](https://msd11.gn.apc.org/sites/default/files/styles/desktop/public/2026-07/RichardBaxell22Jul23.jpeg.webp?itok=HCh8iPRb)
Driven by anti-fascism and anger at Britain’s policy of non-intervention, thousands volunteered to fight in the Spanish civil war. Historian RICHARD BAXELL reflects on their sacrifices and enduring significance
CJ ATKINS commemorates one of the most dramatic moments in working-class history
Spanish dictator Francisco Franco died 50 years ago today November 20. JIM JUMP looks back at his blood-soaked rule and toxic legacy on Spain today