Dr Juan Negrin Lopez (1892-1956) was a man of immense talent, energy, and socialist convictions who served the Spanish people. This book sets out to understand the moral and political thinking of Dr Negrin - of those who supported him to the end and of those who felt that the last months of the war merely prolonged the suffering of the population.
The book explores the duality of 20th-century Europe, highlighting both its remarkable achievements in science, art, and the establishment of welfare states, and the devastating conflicts and oppressive regimes that arose during the same period. It examines the democratization of culture and the expansion of human rights alongside the horrors of two world wars and totalitarian rule. The narrative seeks to understand how such contrasting elements coexist and what lessons can be drawn from this complex historical landscape.
Entre los muchos libros dedicados a la historia de la Segunda república española y la guerra civil, el de Gabriel Jackson destaca por dos razones: por ser el resultado de diez años de investigación y por ofrecernos una visión equilibrada de los acontecimientos, rehuyendo los prejuicios de la extrema derecha y la extrema izquierda (lo que no evitó que estuviese prohibido en España hasta la muerte del general Franco). Ambas cualidades hacen que siga siendo en la actualidad la mejor visión de conjunto de aquellos años cruciales en la historia de la España contemporánea.
