Real-life Amado Granell plays a big part in A Betrayal of Heroes alongside our fictional Jack Telford – and readers have been asking for more about him. Well, here’s the full story… In Alicante lives a man called Miguel Ángel Pérez Oca. He’s 77 now. A famous science teacher, writer and illustrator of books on astronomy and other subjects. Author … [Read more...] about Amado Granell Mesado, the Spanish Republican who helped liberate Paris
Spanish Civil War
Background to the Spanish Civil War, which I've written about over the past ten years or so, separate from those that relate more to Jack Telford.
Five Things You (Maybe) Didn’t Know About the Spanish Heroes of the Second World War
My tenth novel, A Betrayal of Heroes, published in July. It picks up the story of Spanish Republicans who fought against Europe’s Nazis all through the Second World War. The Spanish Civil War - yes, it's a passion Yes, guilty! I write historical fiction. But all my stories solidly rooted in fact. My aim has always been to take special periods of … [Read more...] about Five Things You (Maybe) Didn’t Know About the Spanish Heroes of the Second World War
Spanish Civil War – Music of Republican Spain
The music of Republican Spain creeps into my Spanish Civil War novels quite often. In The Assassin's Mark, our main protagonist, Jack Telford, is introduced to the traditional Asturian mining song that became an anthem during the conflict, Santa Bárbara Bendita. It remains an anthem for Asturian miners in their struggles even today. Here's a … [Read more...] about Spanish Civil War – Music of Republican Spain
Spanish Civil War – Five Things You (Maybe) Didn’t Know
Brief background to the Spanish Civil War Spain had voted to become a Republic in 1931 and its royal family went into exile. But, outside its major cities, life in rural Spain was still feudal. Entirely controlled by the army, the catholic church and a handful of phenomenally wealthy landlords. Then, in February 1936, a left-wing Popular Front … [Read more...] about Spanish Civil War – Five Things You (Maybe) Didn’t Know
Spanish Civil War – The International Women who Fought for Spain
In the three bloody years that followed Spain’s military coup in July 1936, a few women from various parts of the world (Priscilla Scott-Ellis from Britain, for example) volunteered to serve as nurses on behalf of fascist General Franco’s rebel Nationalists. But on the side of the democratically elected Republican Government there was almost a … [Read more...] about Spanish Civil War – The International Women who Fought for Spain