Homage to Catalonia is an account of the time George Orwell spent fighting with the militia during the Spanish civil war. Not only is it a vivid description from the view of an ordinary soldier of one of the most significant political events of the century (among other things the only time a significant area has been under the control of an anarchist organisation), it is also one of the most realistic portrayals ever of what war is actually like at the front line.

The appendices deal in some depth with the political machinations on the Republican side: how the Communist Party allied itself with right wing socialists and liberals to crush the POUM, with the standard "communist" accusation that anyone to the left of them were Trotskyists and therefore fascist traitors.

August 1992

External links:

- buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

Related reviews:

- books by George Orwell
- books about Spain + Spanish history
- more diaries + autobiography
- books about politics
- books about war + military history