Franco: A Biography

Generalissimo Francisco Franco, the Caudillo of Spain, was the most tenacious and most successful of twentieth century Europe s great dictators He is remembered widely as the astute general under whose leadership the Nationalist cause was victorious in the Spanish Civil War and the Communist threat exterminated, and as the head of state who skillfully negotiated safe passage for Spain through World War II, played Hitler off against the Allies, modernized his country, and orchestrated the Spanish economic miracle of the 1960s By the time of his death in 1975, he had steered a unified Spain to worldwide respectability and envy and deftly schooled the young prince Juan Carlos to be his successor To many, Franco was Spain incarnate a heroic figure to match his illustrious a heroic figure to match his illustrious predecessors El Cid, Charles V, and Philip II.This idealized portrait still widely accepted today is now subjected to Paul Preston s penetrating scrutiny He has written a magnificent, monumental biography that vividly recreates the man and sets before us, unclouded by the prejudices or simplifications of apologists or adversaries, a definitive portrayal of this complex, elusive figure.The controversy about Franco s achievements has raged since his death Just how good a general was he Would he have won the civil war without German and Italian help Can he be blamed for the bombing of Guernica and other atrocities Did he dupe Hitler during World War II Were his self sufficient economic policies directly responsible for ushering in Spain s economic boom Did he deliberately seek to liberalize the regime in his later years, or was he perhaps losing his grip on the controls Did Franco preside over another Spanish golden age or did he merely stall and stifle his country s natural growth How, in the final reckoning, are his achievements to be judged Preston addresses and resolves, often to startling effect, these pivotal questions, deploying an enormous quantity of new evidence and fresh insights culled from previously inaccessible sources and unexamined witnesses, colleagues, and enemies alike.Paul Preston s credentials as the biographer of France are incomparable His many books on modern Spain have been acclaimed for their seriousness and their stylishness, and this gloriously engaging biography is, in many ways, the culmination of his work of an intellectual odyssey of twenty five years duration, spent in the company of the Caudillo Paul Preston sits in judgment on this enigmatic dictator, and his verdict will be compelling to anyone interested in the history of modern Spain or, indeed, in the formation of modern Europe. Free Download eBook Franco: A Biography by Paul Preston – kino-fada.fr This was definitely not a biography written like a novel as advertised on the cover It was a long, detailed and extremely well researched book about a shadowy figure, Francisco Franco, who dominated Spanish politics for most of the 20th Century Having visited Spain many times, I found it surprising that a fascist dictatorship existed there well into the 70s and there was a proto fascist uprising that was fortunately unsuccessful in 1981 Wanting to learnabout this mysterious 3rd This was definitely not a biography written like a novel as advertised on the cover It was a long, detailed and extremely well researched book about a shadowy figure, Francisco Franco, who dominated Spanish politics for most of the 20th Century Having visited Spain many times, I found it surprising that a fascist dictatorship existed there well into the 70s and there was a proto fascist uprising that was fortunately unsuccessful in 1981 Wanting to learnabout this mysterious 3rd totalitarian ruler that survived his friends Musolllini and Hitler, I read this Preston biography honestly there are not a lot of other choices and was both saddened and depressed ...Although a very informative and interesting book, its author is clearly, from the first pages, ill disposed and biased against the subject of this biography.Thus the author commits the cardinal sin of the historian and biog...Epic biography of Francisco Franco and the iron fist he controlled Spain with Explores how he maintained SPanish neutrality and the decades after the war I liked the book, occassionally it got a little heavy, but overall a good read.Very difficult to rate this, my political leanings mean I do not like Franco, but Paul Preston is the genius on the Guerra civil.It is too big, coming in at just under 1000 a4 pages He just was not that interesting, he was a deeply flawed character but so were many.Na, overdone overcookedA very interesting read, but a bit of a slough, at the company of Franco was wearing me down what a mean and little man Noel Coward was absolutely right Never trust short people, brains too close to their bottoms.Minuciosa reconstrucci n de la vida del oscuro y mediocre personaje que manej los designios de Espa a durante tanto tiempo.This 787 page monster of a book is the definitive one on the Spanish dictator Preston s coverage of the Civil War is topnotch He emphasizes how Franco slowed down Nationalist progress against the wishes of his cohorts in order to secure his own leadership and to thoroughly wipe out Republicans He saw all Republicans as Communists, who like the Moors he fought against in his early military career in Morocco were not part of la patria and therefore expendable He executed the enemy without This 787 page monster of a book is the definitive one on the Spanish dictator Preston s coverage of the Civil War is topnotch He emphasizes how Franco slowed down Nationalist progress against the wishes of his cohorts in order to secure his own leadership and to thoroughly wipe out Republicans He saw all Republicans as Communists, who like the Moors he fought against in his early military career in Morocco were not part of la patria and therefore expendable He executed the enemy without compunction During WWII he supported the Axis though Hitler quickly gave up any hope that Franco would actually fight but kept the US and Britain s attempts to woo him in play He rightly guessed that the west s view of him and his stand as a bul...J adore les biographies qui sont du main d un admirateur du sujet L auteur dresse l tat de toutes ses bonnes qualities afin d y attribuer ses nombreuses triomphes Le livre devient ainsi une heureuse r cit ou le bien vainc le mal Helas Preston deteste Franco qui fait que la lecture du livre devient fort d primant.Le pere de Franco tait milita...This book is exhaustive in detail about the life of Mr Franco, but very little else can be said about it After finishing it, I feel like I had read too much detail with nothing other than chronology giving structure to it Mr Preston does very little to put Franco s life in the context of Spain of the times or why some would support Mr Franco s program for Spain Mr Preston refers throughout the book to the reaction of the the Flange to Mr Franco s policies, but Mr Preston neve...Four stars does not really mean really liked it Franco the man is loathsome company, and I was glad to finish the book and be done with him Rather it reflects my admiration for Preston s telling of his story.Although one of the reviews on the back of the book notes that Preston despises his subject, on the w...

• English
• 09 September 2019
Paul Preston
• Paperback
• 1024 pages
• 0465025161
• Paul Preston
• Franco: A Biography