The Last Stalinist: The Life of Santiago Carrillo

(Paperback)

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The life of the complex, ruthless adversary of General Franco, whose life spanned much of Spains turbulence in the 20th century.
From 1939 to 1975, the Spanish Communist Party, effectively lead for two decades by Santiago Carrillo, was the most determined opponent of General Francos Nationalist regime. Admired by many on the left as a revolutionary and a pillar of the anti-Franco struggle and hated by others as a Stalinist gravedigger of the revolution, Santiago Carrillo was arguably the dictators most consistent left-wing enemy.

For many on the right, Carrillo was a monster to be vilified as a mass murderer for his activities during the Civil War. But his survival owed to certain qualities that he had in abundance a capacity for hard work, stamina and endurance, writing and oratorical skills, intelligence and cunning though honesty and loyalty were not among them.

One by one he turned on those who helped him in his desire for advancement, revealing the ruthless streak that he shared with Franco, and a zeal for rewriting his past. Drawing on the numerous, continuously revised accounts Carillo created of his life, and contrasting them with those produced by his friends and enemies, Spains greatest modern historian Paul Preston unravels the legend of a devastating and controversial figure at the heart of 20th century Spanish politics.

Reviews

Enormously engaging authoritative fascinating The Last Stalinist is yet another reminder that Paul Preston remains the most reliable historian in the English speaking world for anyone wishing to understand the complicated power struggles between left and right in Spanish politics over the course of the 20th century Spectator

Praise for The Spanish Holocaust:

A book of extraordinary moral and emotional power, a classic of historical scholarship and a deeply affecting record of mans inhumanity to man. Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times

'A harrowing and moving account of the immense terror and enormous atrocities, especially perpetrated by General Franco's followers, during and after the Spanish Civil War, meticulously researched and superbly written by an outstanding historian.' Ian Kershaw

Essential reading for anyone wishing to understand Spain and its recent history. Prestons excellent, spine-chilling narrative explains just how deep Francos early investment in terror was.this is an invaluable book that does not shrink from even the harshest of truths Guardian

Prestons staggeringly detailed powerful and affecting chronicle of the savagery unleashed during the Spanish civil war.is a history of rare moral and emotional power, which alters forever our view of one of the most symbolic conflicts of the last century Sunday Times, History Book of the Year

Author Bio

Paul Preston is Prncipe de Asturias Professor of Contemporary Spanish History and Director of the Caada Blanch Centre of Contemporary Spanish Studies at the LSE. He was lecturer at the University of Reading then successively lecturer in, reader in and Professor of History at Queen Mary College, University of London. In 2006 he was awarded the International Ramon Llull Prize by the Catalan Government. Among his many works are The Triumph of Democracy in Spain (1986), Franco: A Biography (1993), A Concise History of the Spanish Civil War (1996), Comrades (1999), Doves of War: Four Women in Spain (2002), Juan Carlos (2004) and The Spanish Civil War (2006). He was decorated by Spanish King Juan Carlos a Comendador de la Orden de Mrito Civil and in 2007, the Gran Cruz de la Orden de Isabel la Catlica. In 2000 he was awarded a CBE.