Books of the Day (What you don't know about the Spanish Civil War)...

...or, spitting into the post-literate wind.

Russia, Spain, Italy (and sometimes Australia) are passions of mine. At present, the old Soviet Union's archives are granting us a view of the truth Orwell could only guess at.

Here are three books I highly recommend:

The Spanish Civil War, The Soviet Union, and Communism by Stanley G. Payne

Spain Betrayed edited by Ronald Radosh, Mary R. Habeck, and Grigory Sevostianov

(Hey, did somebody put something in the water up there at Yale?)

Franco by Paul Preston

Everyone knows Franco's a joke. A dictator and mass murderer. Right? Well...

Consider his record now.

1) He protected The Church.

2) He kept the Soviet Union and Spanish communists from ruling Spain.

3) He kept Spain out of WWII.

4) He did not hand Spanish Jews over to the Nazis.

5) He provided for a peaceful transition to a constitutional monarchy upon his death.

All in all, not a bad record by 2oth century standards. He may be in Hell, but my guess is he is in a more comfortable circle than his dictatorial peers.