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

This detailed military history of the Spanish Civil War dispels long-held misconceptions and sheds significant new light on the conflict.

Spain in Arms chronicles the development of the Spanish Civil War on the battlefield, examining eight campaigns waged between 1937 and 1939. Through detailed analysis, it demonstrates how many accounts of military operations during this conflict are based upon half-truths and propaganda.

From the Madrid Front to the Catalonia Offensive, each campaigns is chronicled with special focus on the weapons and tactics used, as well as the moment-to-moment decisions of both Republican and Nationalist generals. Hooton also sheds light on the true extent of foreign intervention in the conflict. Using British and French archives, he produces a more accurate—and radically different—account of the battles and the factors that shaped them. Ultimately, Hooton reveals the superiority of the Nationalist alliance in both training and overall command.

Spain in Arms draws on specialized German, Italian and Russian works, and is the first book to quote secret data about Italian air operations intercepted by the British. A magisterial work of military history, it combines detailed analysis with historical context, showing how the events of the Spanish civil War provide a link between the First and Second World Wars.

“In this fastidiously detailed work, military historian Hooton (Eagle in Flames: The Fall of the Luftwaffe) draws on extensive research to demonstrate that the Nationalists who sought to overthrow the standing Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War demonstrated battlefield superiority in the major conflicts. According to Hooton, while there are “whole libraries” devoted to almost every aspect of the Spanish Civil War, there are few that focus specifically on its military history. Beginning with the Madrid Front in 1936 and plodding through detailed battle accounts—the Northern Front (along the border with France), the Brunete and Aragon Offensives, the Battle of Teruel, and the last gasps of the Republican stand at Ebroa and Catalonia—Hooton displays his meticulous research and obsession with detail. This means page upon page of brigades and weaponry lists, countless names of military personnel, casualty totals, and detailed descriptions of military maneuvers. While the reading experience can be one of information overload, Hooton does write in surprisingly fast-moving prose (“Glory-hunting Berti asked Franco to rein in Aranda and give the Italians the privilege of reaching the sea first, but received very short shrift”). This meticulous study will be catnip for specialists studying the war—and only them.”

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