Doves of war
Subtitle: four women of Spain
By: Paul Preston.
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2002
Place of publication: Hammersmith, London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 469
Subjects: Scott-Ellis, Priscilla, 1916-1983.; Green, Nan.; Sanz Bachiller, Mercedes.; Nelken, Margarita, 1896-1968.; Women -- Spain -- Biography.; Spain -- History -- Civil War, 1936-1939 -- Women.
Genres: Biography.
Description: "To this day, the Spanish Civil War is remembered as a conflict of passionate ideals and cruel fanaticism. Much has been written about the epic battles and the role of the Great Powers, about revolution and reaction but little about what the war meant for the women involved and how it affected their relationships with lovers, husbands and children. In Doves of War, historian Paul Preston focuses on four exceptional women whose forgotten stories help us understand the tragedy of the war." "On the left, we have Margarita Nelken, the revolutionary feminist, writer and politician, juggling anxieties for her son and daughter with her frantic efforts to strengthen the Republican war effort against Franco; and Nan Green, the Communist, who left her children behind in England to join her husband in the International Brigades and the fight against fascism. On the right, Priscilla Scott-Ellis, a wealthy English socialite who went to Spain naively hoping to marry the Spanish prince she so unrequitedly loved, but who grew up quickly amongst the horrors of frontline hospitals; and Mercedes Sanz-Bachiller who, devastated by a miscarriage on hearing of her husband's death in battle, threw herself into the welfare work which made her the most powerful woman in the Francoist zone even though intense political rivalries led to her being virtually written out of history. As a direct result of the war, two of these women would be widowed, two would lose children. Two would be deeply traumatised by their experiences in the front line. The shadow of the Spanish Civil War would hang over the rest of all their lives."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibiographical references (p. 415-451) and index.
Table of contents: title: Priscilla Scott-Ellis : all for love; title: Nan Green : a great deal of loneliness; title: Mercedes Sanz-Bachiller : so easy to judge; title: Margarita Nelken : a full measure of pain.