Anarchy's Brief Summer

- Blurb -

A unique portrait of a revolutionary movement that is largely unknown outside Spain. Northern Spain is the only part of Western Europe where anarchism played a significant role in the political life of the twentieth century. Enjoying wide-ranging support among both the urban and rural working class, its importance peaked during its "brief summer"-the civil war between the Republic and General Franco' s Falangists, during which anarchists even participated in the government of Catalonia. Anarchy' s Brief Summer brings anarchism to life by focusing on the charismatic leader Buenaventura Durruti (1896-1936), who became a key figure in the Spanish Civil War after a militant and adventurous youth. The basis of the book is a compilation of texts: personal testimony, interviews with survivors, contemporary documents, memoirs, and academic assessments. They are all linked by Enzenberger' s own assessment in a series of glosses-a literary form that is somewhere between retelling and reconstruction-with the contradiction between fiction and fact reflecting the political contradictions of the Spanish Revolution.