The end of the war

The faithful narration of Casado's Coup and the last months of the Spanish Civil War by Paul Preston, the most prestigious Hispanist of today.

«Peace always negotiated; unconditional surrender so that half a million Spaniards can be shot, never.»
Juan Negrín

«The surrender will take place under such conditions that there will be no precedent in history and it will be the astonishment of the world.»
Segismundo Casado

This is the story of an avoidable tragedy that cost many thousands of lives and ruined tens of thousands more. It has numerous protagonists, but it focuses on three individuals. The first, Dr. Juan Negrín, president of the government of the Second Republic and victim of what could be called a conspiracy of fools, tried to prevent the tragedy. The other two were responsible for what happened. One, Julián Besteiro, acted with astonishing naivety. The other, Segismundo Casado, did so with a surprising combination of cynicism, arrogance, and selfishness.

The result was a humanitarian catastrophe and the worst possible end to the tragedy that was the Spanish war.

Reviews:
«With precision and detailed study, the essayist speaks, among many other issues, of the conspiracies that prevented Negrín's planned evacuation plan from being carried out.»
Culturamas

«An essay that recalls the last days of the Republic and Colonel Casado's coup d'état from a "more human" perspective and focused on the relationship between the main protagonists.»
Público

«The Hispanist analyzes the conduct of the Republican president against the "culpable naivety" of Besteiro and the "lying arrogance" of Casado.»
El País