The Spanish Holocaust: Inquisition and Extermination in Twentieth-Century Spain by Paul Preston

In a work of meticulous scholarship and research, Paul Preston, the world's foremost historian of 20th-century Spain, charts how and why Franco and his supporters set out to eliminate all 'those who do not think as we do' – some 200,000 innocent men, women and children across Spain.

As the country slowly reclaims its historical memory after a long period of wilful amnesia, for the first time a full picture can be given of the es­calation and aftermath of the Spanish Holocaust in all its dimensions – ranging from systematic killings and judicial murders to the abuse of women and children, imprisonment, torture and the grisly fate of Span­iards in the hands of the Gestapo.

Reflecting more than a decade of research, and telling many stories of individuals from both sides, The Spanish Holocaust seeks to reflect the intense horrors visited upon Spain by the arrogance and brutality of the officers who rose up on 17 July 1936, provoking a civil war that was unnecessary and whose consequences still reverberate bitterly in Spain today.

Samuel Johnson prize shortlisted