A Wargamers Needful Things

Spain in Arms

A Military History of The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939

by

E.R. Hooton

 Every once in a while you come across the exact book that you have been waiting to be written. This is one of those for me. Every book I have read on The Spanish Civil War has been, in reality, a political history of the war with the military history thrown in as a side note. This is a military history plain and simple. It does have the needed political history for someone who has not read about the war, but it does not get dragged down into the convoluted political history behind the war. The Spanish Civil War politically makes the French Revolution political gyrations seem incredibly simple in comparison. 

 This is a list of what is in each chapter:

Prologue
Chapter 1: Madrid Front February-March 1937
Chapter 2: The New Armies and weapons
Chapter 3: Northern Front April-October 1937
Chapter 4: Republican offensives July-October 1937
Chapter 5: The Nationalist Advance November 1937-October 1938

Chapter 6: The Last Battles; July 1938-February 1939

 The book does come with a few pictures of the major players and some troops etc. It also comes with maps, actually twenty of them, which should be standard fare in military history books. The maps are not as informative as I would like, but it does help the reader immensely in following the action. 

 I am forever indebted to the author and publisher for this book. In most books I have read about the war, I was finally forced to pick and choose what I would read after I reached the middle of some of those tomes. They weren't bad books, just not what I wanted to read on the conflict. This book cuts all of the fat and gristle away to give you only the juicy meat of the military history. We are always shown the German Condor Legion's assistance to the Nationalist cause. This book shows exactly how much larger the Italian contribution was to the nationalist victory. Thank you Casemate Publishers for the chance to review this excellent book.

Robert

Book: Spain in Arms: The Military History of the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939

Author: E.R. Hooton

Publisher: Casemate Publishers