An astonishing
trilogy of books, collected in one volume, documenting the tumultuous
first half of the 20th century in Spain
The Forging of a
Rebel is an unsurpassed account of Spanish history and society from
early in the twentieth century through the cataclysmic events of the
Spanish Civil War.
Arturo Barea’s
masterpiece charts the author’s coming-of-age in a bruised and
starkly unequal Spain. These three volumes recount in lively detail
Barea’s daily experience of his country as it pitched toward
disaster: we are taken from his youthful play and rebellion on the
streets of Madrid, to his apprenticeship in the business world and to
the horrors he witnessed as part of the Spanish army in Morocco
during the Rif War. The trilogy culminates in an indelible portrait
of the Republican fight against Fascist forces in which the Madrid of
Barea’s childhood becomes a shell and bullet-strewn warzone.
Combining historical
sweep and authority with poignant characterization and novelistic
detail, The Forging of a Rebel is a towering literary and historical
achievement.
