Ten Minutes at Arnhem Bloody suicide! Or so his co-pilot, Dickie Medhurst, had shouted at him. ‘We can make it,’ David smiled, though he wasn’t sure the old bus would hold up. The wings had more holes than a colander, and the starboard engine was coughing blood, spitting flames. But, as they lurched down, out of the mirky cloud, he gave Dickie a re-assuring thump on the shoulder. Green as grass, thought David. But keen as … [Read more...]
Favourite Reads – The Sellout by Paul Beatty
Black Satire at its Very Best! Opening sentence: This may be hard to believe, coming from a black man, but I’ve never stolen anything. The “sellout” of the title is the satirical novel’s black narrator, a man whose upbringing has been scarred by the pscychological experiments forced upon him by his father. And when their ghetto community, Dickens, is wiped off the map, the narrator will apply the same reverse psychology to bring the place … [Read more...]
Spanish Civil War – Music of Republican Spain
The music of Republican Spain creeps into my Spanish Civil War novels quite often. In The Assassin's Mark, our main protagonist, Jack Telford, is introduced to the traditional Asturian mining song that became an anthem during the conflict, Santa Bárbara Bendita. It remains an anthem for Asturian miners in their struggles even today. Here's a translation of a couple of random verses, just to give a flavour. And it's a great marching song, of … [Read more...]
Spanish Civil War – Five Things You (Almost Certainly) Didn’t Know
Brief background to the Spanish Civil War Spain had voted to become a Republic in 1931 and its royal family went into exile. But, outside its major cities, life in rural Spain was still feudal, entirely controlled by the army, the catholic church and a handful of phenomenally wealthy landlords. Then, in February 1936, a left-wing Popular Front coalition was elected to power and pledged to introduce reforms which were all anathema to those … [Read more...]
Spanish Civil War – The International Women who Fought for Spain
In the three bloody years that followed Spain’s military coup in July 1936, there were certainly a small number of women from various parts of the world (Priscilla Scott-Ellis from Britain, for example) who volunteered to serve as nurses on behalf of fascist General Franco’s rebel Nationalists. But on the side of the democratically elected Republican Government there was almost a tidal wave of active support among women from across the … [Read more...]
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