'DOUBLE OR NOTHING' by P Frye & T Ruby. London 1997. Janus. £ 15.95.
This is an autobiography of Frye and Ruby, which covers their whole lives - it features their time in Spain. This is more of a personal recollection - has little for the military historian.
'OVER THE ABYSS- MY LIFE IN SOVIET SPECIAL OPERATIONS' by Colonel I G Starinov, New York 1995 Ballantine books.
Not a new book, but one recommended highly by one of our readers. It deals in extensive detail about special ops' in the SCW as well as ex - Republican soldiers serving with the Soviet Army 1942 - 45.
DEFENSA MAGAZINE - NO 49, ' LA GUERRA EN EL AIRE JULY 36 - JULY 37 '
This excellent magazine that produced the issue on SCW vehicles has done it again with the first year of the air war. All the text is in Spanish, but it is the Photos that speak for themselves - over 110 in this 69 page a4 publication - many of them unseen before. Price is 795 PTAs, contact Defensa at ;
Jorge Juan 98 - 20, 28009 Madrid -
Email : 106740.663@compuserve.com
'THE EX - 1936 ,THE SPANISH REVOLUTION'. By AK press £ 16.95
This 144 page photo book is accompanied by 2 CD singles (which contain 2 Spanish and English revolutionary songs.
The book is available from AK Distribution, PO Box 12766, Edinburgh, EH8 9YE. add 10% p & p ( UK ) 20 % overseas. Chqs payable to AK distribution.
'SPAIN'S CAUSE WAS MINE ' A MEMOIR OF AN AMERICAN MEDIC IN THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR. By Hank Rubin, 1997, Southern Illinois. 176 pages .
This book is the story of Hank Rubin a UCLA student who left for Spain in 1937 joining the medical branch of the I.B's.
'VOICES FROM THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR. PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF SCOTTISH VOLUNTEERS IN REPUBLICAN SPAIN 36 -39'. 1986, Dufour 370 pages. Illustrated .
Again, this is not a new book, but one I seem to have missed first time round. Another must have.
'WINGS OVER SPAIN,HISTORY AND IMAGES OF THE CIVIL WAR 1936-1939
Review by Tom Sarbaugh
By A. Emiliani & G. Ghergo, Giorgio Apostolo Editore, Milano, July 1997, 200pp, 369 photos ( 346 b/w,23 colour), 6 Republican & 6 nationalist colour aircraft plan views ; maps,documents,tables, - price unknown.
This volume is the third in a series, but the first in English , of an album of photo's, mostly concerning aviation subjects of the Spanish Civil war. Coauthored by two noted Italian aerial historians. The first edition of this work 'Nei Cieli di Spagna, 1936 -39, Immagini e Documenti delle Forze Aeree in Guerra' was released by the same publisher in September 1986. It had 174 pp, 230 photos, 8 colour aircraft planviews( 6 nationalist, 2 republican), documents, tables, maps etc. and sold for 42,000 lire - about $28.00.
It was not intended as a complete history of the airwar, but did have long photo captions which provided a good deal of information for those who already had some knowledge of the conflict from standard sources. Many of the illustrations had never before been published : others had only appeared in fairly obscure works.
In February 1997, an expanded version of nei Cieli ..... was published as 'Ali in Spagna, Immagini e Storia Della guerra Civil 1936-39' It had about 155 more pages, 60 % more photos ( inc 23 colour shots of insignia and i.d papers ) 50% more colour aircraft planviews (all Republican) and some new lists e.g. Aviacion del Tercio/Aviazione Legionara aces in Spain and Italian aviators killed in Spain : recipients of top German, Italian, Spanish Nationalist and Republican ( but not Soviet ) military decorations, etc.
Five months later, the translation of 'Ali in Spagna .....' was released as 'Wings Over Spain'...' to be of interest because of its inclusion of little known subjects. For the same reason , students of the Spanish Civil war ' will find its unique illustrations necessary for addition to their libraries.
Highly recommended !!!
Back to Rolfe Hedges...
'UNIFORMES Y PERTRECHOS - EJERCITO POPULAR REPUBLICANO 36-39. By C Flores & R Cardona, Almena, 1997. 166 pages - fully illustrated. 3,950 ptas .
This is another brilliant book to come from Spain. It is full with black and white photos and some colour ones from the period. It features mainly uniforms with some medals, insignia, flags and weapons used by the Republican army.
For me there are some very important pictures, page 136 shows a soldier wearing the m1936 Soviet helmet, and page 63 shows 4 republican soldiers wearing captured Italian camouflage kit . There are about 19 colour posed plates of actors wearing SCW uniforms - probably original uniforms - these are good because they capture accurately the colours rather than imitate them in inks ( Bueno). Essential for the modeller / wargamer.
All the many photos ( about 153 ) have English translations at the rear of the book. Caliver books are stocking it in the UK at £ 20.
AMAZON BOOKS
A new company to me, they are based in the USA and have a comprehensive book list on the internet at: www.amazon.com.
Type in ' Spanish Civil War' and a book list of over 50 titles appears, many I have never heard of. One such example is 'THE AURA OF THE CAUSE;A PHOTO ALBUM FOR NORTH AMERICAN VOLUNTEERS IN THE SCW' by C Nelson. More news on this service in the next issue.
OSPREY NEWS
There are rumours that the 'Spanish Civil War' (MAA no 74 ) title is to be deleted from their range for 1998. I recommend any one that hasn't got the title to get it whilst you can - as Osprey titles never seem to get reprinted.
LAURIE LEE
Many of you will know this English author (who died last year) and his works, especially those concerning Spain in the 1930's. Lee tells his story in a trilogy of books about his travels in Spain and his eventual fighting as part of the 15th international battalion. His part in the war told in 'A MOMENT OF WAR' published in 1991. This came out 22 years after the earlier volume 'AS I WALKED OUT ONE MIDSUMMER'S MORNING'.
The book tells in some detail of his exploits and his eventual involvement in the battle of Teruel.
However, at the end of 1997 an article in 'The Spectator' 3/1/98 by Simon Courtauld claims that the story was a fabrication. Mainly using evidence supplied by Bill Alexander ( the famous IB veteran ) who quotes 'he (Lee) wasn't at Teruel, he never got beyond Barcelona. That book is mostly pure fantasy'. They use several mistakes made by Lee in his book to support there case.
However, Lee's widow insists he was there and remembers Spanish locals who remembered him when they visited Spain in the 1950's.
All I can say is read Lee's books, they are pretty convincing; but by no means are they as good as Orwell or Hemingway.
More News
Back to Abanderado Vol. 3 No. 2 Table of Contents
Back to Abanderado List of Issues
Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1997 by Rolfe Hedges
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com