القرار في إسبانيا .. المعركة الكبرى للأدب

On July 19, 1936, General Francisco Franco boarded a plane bound for Tetouan to join an uprising against the Spanish Republic. Brave volunteers from more than fifty countries spontaneously set out to defend Spain against the fascist coup. They were joined by Ernest Hemingway, Robert Capa, George Orwell, Simone Weil, Willy Brant, and many others. Renowned expert on Spanish affairs, Paul Ingenday, recounts their battles with arms, pen and camera – a gripping story of courage and delusion, already overshadowed by the specter of World War II. Summer of 1936: In Madrid, residents cooled hot sidewalks with water, while just a few doors away, a gun was drawn in Parliament. At the Bayreuth Wagner Festival, Hitler receives a letter: a general named Franco requests his military support for a coup against the Spanish government. Six days later, a German air unit, disguised in civilian clothing, prepared for deployment under the code name “Operation Fire Magic.” It was a crucial time in Europe, full of fateful decisions, coincidences, betrayals and tragic ironies. Tens of thousands of volunteers from around the world spontaneously decided to come to Spain's aid in the impending civil war. Among them are artists, journalists, intellectuals, and the persecuted; They include aid workers and nurses, idealists and adventurers. Set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War, Paul Ingenday brilliantly captures the division that tore apart families, villages, and nations, a division that would define the fronts of the twentieth century.