Franz Borkenau (1900–1957)

A curiously dry account of some of the most important aspects of modern history, curious because Borkenau experienced some of this from within the Third International. I suppose that the dryness is preferable to what might have resulted from a later acoount, since Borkenau subsequently withdrew from the Communist movement, though mercifully he never descended to the breast-beating of some (like Malraux) or the outright and active reaction of others (like Lovestone). Though he lived long enough to join that dubious sub-species known as professional anti-communists, this book was, in fact mostly written before that time, thus at-least partially explaining the comparative mild tone of the piece. Given LibraryThing's particular policies, the edition I have read and reviewed here might more properly be considered simply as a re-issue of the 1938 original.… (más)

An interesting rendering of the internecine struggle for dominance which took place on the republican side (or the left) in the Spanish Civil War-(1936-1939). Borkenau an ex-communist and ex-comintern agent apparently made an effort also to get a ground level view of the other Nationalist (or the right) but was refused. In any case the book is heavy on analysis of the motivations of the various parties--their aims and goals not only just to supplant or destroy each other but what they intended to bring into the social and economic life of the country. Of course there are mistakes (some of them colossal) to be examined. I find Borkenau to be even-handed in his examination of all the different parties and often enlightened in his conclusions. I liked the book but is probably best to start with Antony Beevor's or Hugh Thomas's histories of the conflict before getting to something like this because with more time and distance from the event those writers could be more accurate in the finer detail. Even so Borkenau's book is written with a high degree of objectivity despite being based mostly on direct experience and his writing is very fluid and stays away from partisanship. Very good.… (más)