SIR PAUL PRESTON CBE is Professor of Contemporary Spanish History at the London School of Economics and was previously a lecturer at the University of Reading and Professor of Modern History at Queen Mary University London. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and holds the Marcel Proust Chair of the European Academy of Yuste. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by universities in Spain and the UK. In 2006, he was awarded the International Ramon Llull Prize by the Catalan Government and, in 2018, the Guernica Peace Prize. Among his many works are Franco: A Biography, Comrades, Doves of War: Four Women of Spain, Juan Carlos, The Spanish Civil War, The Spanish Holocaust, The Last Stalinist, The Last Days of the Spanish Republic and A People Betrayed. In Spain, he was appointed a Comendador de la Orden del Mérito Civil in 1986 and awarded, in 2007, the Gran Cruz de la Orden de Isabel la Católica. He lives in London.
Preston's definitive, gripping biography of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, ``the least known of the great dictators of the twentieth century,'' penetrates the wall of secrecy, propaganda and myths surrounding the fascist demagogue. A brutal tyrant who silenced his opponents with imprisonment, torture and executions and thereby paralyzed the masses with fear, Franco (1892-1975) hid behind a series of masks-desert hero commanding the Spanish Legion in Morocco; modern El Cid during the Civil War, defending the Catholic faith and restoring Spain's national greatness; benevolent patriarch. Moreover, Franco, a cunning politician of startlingly mediocre intellect, deeply believed in these personas, often denied he was a dictator, and ascribed domestic working-class and left-liberal opposition to the machinations of foreign Communist or Masonic elements. Professor of international history at the London School of Economics, Preston demolishes claims by admirers and apologists that the generalissimo skillfully held off Hitler to preserve Spain's neutrality; instead, he shows that Hitler's unwillingness to promise France's colonies to Spain led to a stalemate between the two dictators. By the late 1950s, Preston maintains, Franco was increasingly a figurehead who reluctantly acquiesced in Spain's technocratic turn to capitalism. Photos. (Nov.)
Generalissimo Franco (1892-1975) ruled Spain with an iron hand for nearly 40 years. Now, almost two decades after his death, Preston (international history, London Sch. of Economics) has assembled a vast amount of material in this marvelously researched, abundantly detailed-and very readable-story of the dictator's life. Preston refrains from fanciful speculation, documenting his assertions with 131 pages of notes. Franco early on developed his vision of the army's central role in determining Spain's future and of his own unquestioned right of command. He was convinced of his messianic mission in saving Spain from "the reds"; his successes were largely a result of his cunning and a series of lucky breaks at critical moments throughout his career. Only with Franco's death did the merciless Nationalist victory of 1939 become, at long last, a true Spanish peace. Highly recommended for all readers.-Charles E. Perry, East Central Univ., Ada, Okla.
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