This is a very detailed and rewarding account of the Spanish Civil War, considering the politics and tactics of both sides. While I preferred the political sections to the descriptions of individual battles, the were for the post part clear and understandable.

There did seem to be more of a focus on the Republican side, when compared to the Nationalist side, though this may be because the Nationalist side organised themselves fairly quickly under Franco’s leadership, where as the power balance between left republicans, communists and anarchists meant that there was more jostling for power on the Republican side. Having recently read Franco’s biography, this didn’t really bother me, though it could be seen as a bias towards the leftists.

On the whole it was a very thorough account of a complicated and bloody war, which I would recommend to those interested in this area of history.