Behind the Spanish Barricades

Reports from the Spanish Civil War
Introduced by Paul Preston and Nigel Chapman

John Langdon-Davies
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  / SYNOPSIS

In May 1936, John Langdon-Davies, the eminent journalist and author, went to Spain to report on the May Day celebrations in Madrid for the News Chronicle. By the time he returned in August, civil war had broken out and many of those he had seen celebrating now lay dead. On this second trip he drove into Spain on his motorbike with his fifteen-year-old son. From behind the Republican barricades, Langdon-Davies wrote this extraordinary eyewitness account, now republished for the first time. It chronicles not only the atrocities of war and the bloody siege of Toledo’s Alcázar but also the human face of the conflict - and even its comic moments.

  / CHARITY

In 1937, in a refugee camp, Langdon-Davies met a five-year-old boy who had been found with a note that read: “This is José. I know that I shall be killed when they capture Santander and I beg that whoever reads this will take care of my child for my sake.” To help care for vast numbers of children orphaned and displaced by the war, Langdon-Davies founded PLAN INTERNATIONAL, now one of the world’s leading child sponsorship charities. Part of the profits of Behind the Spanish Barricades will go to PLAN INTERNATIONAL, who today work with eleven million children in 60 developing countries.

  / PRESS REVIEWS

Action Man by Hannah Pennell for Barcelona Metropolitan




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Catalogue Details

November 2007
ISBN: 978-0-9555729-4-4
223pp. Hardback £15.99
16 B&W photos + map
Foreign rights: World

Daniela Norris and Shireen Anabtawi in discussion - October 12th, London Jewish Cultural Centre

Daniela Norris and Shireen Anabtawi in Bristol - October 13th