Lisa A. Kirschenbaum. International Communism and the Spanish Civil War: Solidarity and Suspicion.

Abstract

With the opening of Soviet-era and Spanish Civil War archives, quite a few studies of Soviet-Spanish relations in the 1930s have recently appeared. Many focus on politically contentious issues, such as the extent and intention of Soviet influence. Lisa A. Kirschenbaum’s International Communism and the Spanish Civil War: Solidarity and Suspicion is a refreshing contribution to this growing body of scholarly literature. It focuses on the “everyday lives of international communists” (2) and promises to offer “a grassroots history of international communism” (2) as it played out in the Spanish Civil War. Throughout, she stresses that the civil war was a “personal and political point of reference” (9) for its communist veterans. The scale of Kirschenbaum’s research is impressive, indeed exemplary. The evidence comes from a wide array of archives and collections in Russia, Spain, and the U.S. The source base and focus make this an original contribution to the historiography.