Background Information

The Spanish Civil War

The Civil War devastated Spain from July 1936 to April 1939. On one side were supporters of the liberal-socialist Republic, generally comprised of urban workers, peasants and much of the educated middle class; on the other were the rebel nacionales, made up of the majority of the Catholic clergy and practicing Catholics, important elements of the army, most of the large landowners, and many businessmen. International backing for the Republicans came primarily from the Soviet Union and Mexico, and for the Nationalists from the major European Axis powers, namely Italy, Germany, and neighbouring Portugal. The war ended in 1939 with the victory of the Nationalist rebels and the founding of a dictatorship led by General Francisco Franco that lasted until his death in 1975.

The war increased tensions in the lead-up to the Second World War and became in some cases a world war by proxy, with Germany in particular using Spain as a rehearsal for many of the blitzkrieg tactics it later used in the war in Europe. The advent of the mass media allowed an unprecedented level of attention (Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell and Robert Capa all covered it) and so the war became notable for the passion and political division it inspired, and for atrocities committed on both sides of the conflict. At least 50,000 people were executed during the Civil War, and even afterwards Franco continued to issue harsh reprisals against his former enemies. Anthony Beevor estimates that this ‘white terror’ claimed a further 200,000 lives. Many others were put to forced labour, building railways, drying out swamps, digging canals and constructing Franco’s infamous Valle de los Caídos monument. Hundreds of thousands of other Republicans fled abroad, especially to France and Mexico.

Federico García Lorca

Frederico García Lorca, poet, dramatist, painter, pianist and composer, was born into a family of minor but wealthy landowners on 5 June 1898. In 1909 the family moved to Granada where in time García Lorca became deeply involved in local artistic circles. In 1919 he went to study in Madrid where he befriended Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí, among many others who were or would become influential artists in Spain. Towards the end of the 1920s, however, García Lorca fell victim to increasing depression brought about largely by his anguish over his homosexuality. The recent success of his play Mariana Pineda and poetry collections seemed to emphasise the painful dichotomy of his life: he was trapped between the persona of the successful author, which he was forced to maintain in public, and the tortured self, which he could only acknowledge in private.

After a brief spell in New York García Lorca returned to Spain in 1930 where he toured with a student theatre company acting, directing and writing his most famous works: Bodas de Sangre, Yerma and La Casa de Bernarda Alba. In 1936 he returned to the conservative city of Granada just three days before civil war broke out. García Lorca and his brother-in-law, the socialist mayor of Granada, were soon arrested. He was killed, shot by Nationalist militia on 19 August 1936 and thrown into an unmarked grave. Significant controversy remains about the motives and details of his death although many believe that homophobia played a role. The dossier compiled at Franco's request has yet to surface. The Franco regime placed a general ban on García Lorca's work and it was not until Franco’s death in 1975 that García Lorca's life and death could be openly discussed in Spain. Today, García Lorca is honored by a statue prominently located in Madrid's Plaza de Santa Ana. Political philosopher David Crocker reports that ‘the statue, at least, is still an emblem of the contested past: each day, the Left puts a red kerchief on the neck of the statue, and someone from the Right comes later to take it off.’

Find out more about the book
Reading Group discussion question
Read an interview with the author
Find out more about the author
Read background information about the book
Read more about Flamenco
Read more about the book in The Times
Bibliography
Find out more about THE ISLAND

Buy the book:
Amazon, Waterstones, Play.com

Visit the author’s website
Click here for our fantastic Unique Traveller competition