The Anarchists in the Spanish Civil War
Robert Alexander
Janus Publishing Co.
ISBN 1 85756 412 X
£16.95 per volume

This two volume work is a very useful addition to the works on the Spanish Revolution and the role anarchists played in it. It is essentially a summary of many previous studies, complemented by extensive interviews. The author visited Barcelona in August 1936, while on holiday in Europe. A member of the Young People's Socialist League, his parents had informed him he could not go to the USSR under any circumstances but had not told him not to go to Spain is a civil war breaks out. From this visit to revolutionary Barcelona came a life long interest in the Spanish Revolution ("one of the most interesting social experiments that has taken place in the twentieth century" as he puts it).

Volume One is the more useful of the two, with an excellent overview of both the rural and urban collectives. What comes out most from the discussion of both the successes and failures of the collectives is that, for all their faults, there were far more of the former than the latter. Another interesting aspect of his discussion is how many collectives were built from existing forms of libertarian and working class organisation (for example, before the war the CNT had established health service institutions which were built upon and expanded after the revolution). This stresses the importance of anarchists thinking about alternative forms of social life and organisation we can create today to aid the class struggle and build the facts of the new world in the existing one. By so doing, we show the viability and practicality of our ideas and tactics to other working class people and so spread anarchist ideas and influence. The evidence he presents indicates that the worker-managed collectives were a viable alternative to capitalism -- an alternative which anarchists should study in order to better understand the dynamics of a social revolution in order to be prepared for the next time.

Alexander also discusses the roots of Spanish Anarchism as well as pre-revolution visions of what an anarchist society could be like. He discusses the role of anarchists in the Republican military, exposing a few myths along the way (such as the "indiscipline" of the militias and the alleged flight of the Durruti Column under fire on the Madrid front). It is good to see these myths (and the Stalinist lies that created them) refuted in black and white. On the question of rural collectives, Alexander also discusses the role of force in creating them, presenting evidence to show that Stalinist claims of CNT terror were, as anarchists claimed at the time and since, lies. The bulk of useful and interesting information is contained in this volume. Volume 2 is mostly about the communist betrayal of the revolution, with a useful appendix on anarchist violence during the civil war. There is also a useful bibliography and an index (which will help in its use as a resource for anarchists).

On the negative side, both volumes are riddled with typing mistakes, which is very annoying. The one major problem is the authors desire to expose the Stalinist betrayal of the revolution. This leads, for example, to a chapter in volume 2 of over 300 pages called "The Anarchists Role in Republican Politics" being mostly about the role of the Communist Party with us being mentioned occasionally! Also, the author is not an anarchist which means that much of his analysis and discussion ignores many of the questions anarchists would seek to answer -- namely on what lessons can be drawn from the revolution, the role of the CNT and FAI, the functioning of the collectives. However, this work will be an essential resource for any comrade seeking to produce such an analysis.

In summary: a useful resource and an excellent, if flawed, contribution to the anarchist role during the Spanish Civil War and Revolution. Definitely worth reading.