amazing book by the most decent writer George Orwell , the interesting part was his book Homage to catalonia, other chapters were all around the main book. no need for this extended edition. ( )

Along with Homage to Catalonia, a masterful memoir of the Spanish Civil War, this volume contains a comprehensive selection of Orwell's writings on Spain. Except for the essay "Looking Back on the Civil War," none of the writings reaches the level of the Homage; however, they do elucidate Orwell's opinions on the consequences and global impact of the war. Through it all, one senses his passion for historical truth. He reserves his greatest odium for liars, whether they be politicians or intellectuals, friends or foes.

When reading Orwell, I always wonder where such clear-sighted, non-partisan political writing can be found these days. Christopher Hitchens, who wrote the introduction to this book, saw himself as such a writer, but he became an inebriated jingoist after 9/11. Nowadays, it is easier to predict what a writer will say about a given current event based on that writer's earlier pieces rather than anything substantive in the event itself. Orwell's approach sounds so reasonable and seems so direct that it is only the absence of such a voice that shows what an accomplishment it is. Or perhaps, more sinisterly, forums for such thought have disappeared. ( )

This edition comprises Orwell's classic Homage to Catalonia with a variety of his other writings on the Spanish Civil War: letters, reviews of other books, and so on. Fascinating stuff. ( )

I went through this edition because of the letters and reviews on many books on the Spanish Civil War that Orwell wrote. The most of them date from July 1937, when Orwell came back to France and then England from the Aragon front, till the beginning of the 40's. He mainly relates how the POUM was almost boycotted by the Communist Party accused of being Trotskyists and how the news accounting for their disintegration were quite misleading. Orwell's thesis are basically that the way the European media and journalist dealt with the Spanish War were pretty untrully and even unfair as well as, that some intervention from the British or French governments could have changed the course of the events. In particular he claims that the European governments and also the european working class didn't involve themselves as they could, but just took a too much more comfortable position.

"To the British working class the massacre of their comrades in Vienna, Berlin, Madrid, or wherever it might be, seemed less interesting and less important than yesterday's football match." ( )