The Spanish Labyrinth; An Account of the Social and Political Background of the Civil War

New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, 1943. Presumed First U.S. Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Good. xviii, [2], 384 pages. Footnotes. Ex-library book, with usual library markings. Part of DJ pasted to fep. Includes Preface, Chronological Table, Six maps on page facing xviii, showing the fundamental political division of Spain from 1873 to 1936. Part 1 discusses The Ancien Regime, 1874-1931; Part 2 discusses the condition of the working classes; and Part 3 discusses The Republic. There also are three black and white sketch maps on pages 333-335, as well as Appendices, Bibliography, and Index. Edward FitzGerald "Gerald" Brenan, CBE, MC (7 April 1894 - 19 January 1987) was a British writer and hispanist who spent much of his life in Spain. Brenan is best known for The Spanish Labyrinth, a historical work on the background to the Spanish Civil War, and for South from Granada: Seven Years in an Andalusian Village. He was appointed CBE in the Diplomatic Service and Overseas List of 1982. At the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, he immediately joined the British Army and served in France throughout the war. After being demobbed in 1919, Hope-Johnstone introduced Brenan to the Bloomsbury Group. After moving to Spain, contacts with the Bloomsbury Group continued, particularly with his best friend Ralph Partridge and Partridge's first wife Dora Carrington, with whom Brenan had an affair. In the late 1920s he formed a relationship with his maid, Juliana Martin Pelegrina, which resulted in the birth of a daughter, Miranda Helen. In 1930, he met the American writer Gamel Woolsey (1895-1968); they married in 1931. They lived near M�laga, during part of the Spanish Civil War. This book sets out to explain the enigma of the Spanish civil war by giving a detailed account of the modern social and political history of the country, continuously interpreted by a love for the people themselves, and an understanding of their character and the kind of life which climate and land have determined for them. The Spanish Labyrinth (full title: The Spanish Labyrinth: An Account of the Social and Political Background of the Spanish Civil War) is an account of Spain's social, economic and political history as a background to the Spanish Civil War. First published in 1943, it has stayed in print, with repeated reissues. Together with works by noted Hispanists such as Paul Preston, Raymond Carr, Burnett Bolloten, and Hugh Thomas, The Spanish Labyrinth is deemed to be essential background reading for studies of Spain and its history. The Spanish Labyrinth was banned by the government of Francisco Franco because its criticism of his regime. Spanish-language translations of The Spanish Labyrinth were secretly smuggled into the country by anti-Franco �migr�s, and the book became popular among Spanish dissidents. After Franco's death, the ban was lifted and the book was well-received by Spanish historians. The 1993 edition has an extensive foreword by Raymond Carr, stating that the book was acclaimed "as one of the most brilliant political and social studies in many years" by the Chicago Sunday Tribune, and "the essence of Spain" by the Manchester Guardian. Carr himself called the book "a revelation to my generation," adding, "What is remarkable about Brenan's account of the Second Republic of 1931-6" is the fairness that has enabled it to stand the test of time... his account stands out as surprisingly impartial.".